Israeli forces have attacked the international Viva Palestina aid convoy Freedom Flotilla en route to the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and leaving more than 50 injured.
The attack came on Monday morning, 31st May, after one of the six ships in the convoy was hit by Israeli navy forces before being stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.
The interception reportedly took place in international waters, more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.
For more updates visit the Viva Palestina website: http://www.vivapalestina.org/
Monday, 31 May 2010
Friday, 28 May 2010
UK union joins free public transport campaign
by
Colin Fox
Whilst
the political parties at Westminster were all agreeing to decimate
public services the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS)
passed a resolution at its annual conference in Brighton to support
the introduction of free
public transport
to combat global warming, reduce pollution and road traffic accidents
and improve social inclusion.
Scottish
Socialist Party national co-spokesperson
Whilst
the political parties at Westminster were all agreeing to decimate
public services the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS)
passed a resolution at its annual conference in Brighton to support
the introduction of free
public transport
to combat global warming, reduce pollution and road traffic accidents
and improve social inclusion.
The
plan was initially developed by Alan McCombes and pioneered by the
Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) in the
Scottish Parliament and has been described as ‘the most imaginative
and audacious’ policy put forward by any party in the entire
climate change debate. I was delighted to accept an invitation from
the PCS’s Department for Transport conference to outline our
specific policy objectives in detail to delegates.
If
Scotland is to meet our target for reducing CO2 emissions by 2020 we
must persuade people to use their cars less. Cars are responsible for
80% of the greenhouse gases attributable to transport.
In
adopting the free public transport policy the PCS was influenced, as
indeed we were, by the remarkable
success of the scheme implemented by the authorities in the Belgian
city of Hasselt.
They introduced free public transport in 1997 in response to chronic
traffic congestion. But instead of building more and more roads to
accommodate more and more cars they took an alternative route. They
abolished fares on their buses, trains and trams. Their aim was to
provide people with a better alternative to using their cars. Critics
scoffed at their idea and said it was madness, that people wouldn’t
leave their beloved cars just because the bus was free. Yet in the
space of three years passenger numbers in Hasselt increased tenfold
from 330,000 in 1996 to 3.7million.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Leninism 21 – Paul Le Blanc on the revolutionary party today
Dredging the internet for articles addressing the question “are Lenin’s ideas relevant today”, the name of US activist and academic and Paul Le Blanc comes up a lot.
He has written two books that address this issue, 1989’s “Lenin and the Revolutionary Party” and “Marx, Lenin, and the Revolutionary Experience” in 2006, and these have been widely referenced and reviewed, particularly by socialists who, like Le Blanc himself (and UNITYblog) place themselves in the Trotskyist tradition.
In addition to this article, there’s an interview with Le Blanc from Monthly Review and a statement from him about why he decided to join the International Socialist Organization last year.
This article was published on the Canadian website Socialist Voice on June 25, 2008, the comments there are also worth reading.
Lenin and the revolutionary party today
by Paul Le Blanc
Paul Le Blanc was a guest speaker at the “Socialism 2008” conference of the International Socialist Organization in Chicago, June 20, 2008. This article is based on his talk.
For millions Lenin was seen as a liberator. Appropriated after his death by bureaucrats and functionaries in order to legitimate their tyranny in countries labeled “Communist,” he was at the same time denounced for being a wicked and cruel fanatic by defenders of power and privilege in capitalist countries — and with Communism’s collapse at the close of the Cold War it is their powerful voices that have achieved global domination. But the ideas of Lenin, if properly utilized, can be vital resources for challenging the exploitation of humanity and degradation of our planet.
There are Marxist-influenced democratic socialists who would argue that “whoever wants to reach socialism by any other path than that of political democracy will inevitably arrive at conclusions that are absurd and reactionary both in the economic and political sense.” In fact, these are the words of Lenin himself. Many critics of Lenin have pointed to his repressive policies of 1918-1922, when the early Soviet republic was engulfed and overwhelmed by multiple crises, accusing him of being the architect of the Stalinist totalitarianism of later decades. Much of my recent book Marx, Lenin, and the Revolutionary Experience (Routledge 2006) is devoted to disproving this grotesque distortion. Contrary to the claims of his detractors, Lenin’s writings reveal a commitment to freedom and democracy that runs through his political thought from beginning to end. They also reveal an incredibly coherent analytical, strategic, and tactical orientation that has relevance for our own age of “globalization.”[1]
In my remarks today I would like to do three things. First, I want to touch briefly on what I think are essentials of Lenin’s thought. Second, I want to touch on a couple of major problems that have cropped up in efforts to build organizations aspiring to be Leninist. Third, I want to talk about the necessity of building such an organization.
Hone Harawira mad at GST hike - not the only one
Hone signing the GST off food petition launched by RAM in 2008
In his regular column Ae Marika! written for the Northland Age, Maori Party MP Hone Harawira gets mad, very mad, about the rise in GST (see below). And he's not going to be the only one when the GST increase comes into effect.
National's paltry income tax cuts for low-to-middle income people will be forgotten when weekly budgets get blown to bits by the GST hike, which will be compounded by these related factors:
- Retailers will undoubtedly try to increase prices a little extra on top of the 2.5% GST increase;
- The price of food is widely predicted to go through the roof this years as a result of global speculation in food commodity prices;
- Bosses citing the income tax cuts as a reason not to give decent pay increases.
CAN’T BUDGE-IT
by Hone Harawira, MP for Tai Tokerau
from Northland Age
25 May 2010
Speaking out against the increase in GST in last week’s budget wasn’t a hard call for me because the people who are going to be hurt the most by it are the people I grew up with, the people I live with, and the people I represent.
I don’t like being told I have to support something I don’t agree with and I don’t like being told to keep my mouth shut either, and even though our coalition agreement with National means that we have to vote for the Budget, I was pissed off that we weren’t speaking out against the GST increase when none of us supported it.
GST is a tax that you pay on nearly everything - food, petrol, electricity, clothes, schoolbooks, everything - and when you don’t have a lot of money to start with, every little price rise hurts.
Converging Crises: Reality, Fear and Hope
by Susan George
19 May 2010
Although the G-20 and other official bodies have so far refused to acknowledge the fact, we are not simply living through a financial crisis, however grave the financial aspects of the current upheaval may be, but a multiple crisis whose component elements all strengthen and reinforce each other. For that matter, it's not even a 'crisis', which in uncorrupted language is a relatively brief moment between two possible outcomes—in an illness, for example, between recovery and death. We're in for a much longer period but here we will bow to the now-standard vocabulary.
Beyond finance, one should recognise that inequality within and between countries and citizens has reached unsustainable levels in both developed and developing countries. Poverty is spreading and deepening, food and water scarcities are worsening, conflicts thrive in increasingly stressed societies, and catastrophic climate change—advancing much faster than experts predicted—looms over the whole.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Gordon Campbell: On the trade-offs in the Budget
21 May 2010
Raising the level of GST – which will hit those on low incomes the hardest – and offering in compensation a package of tax cuts that will reward those on high incomes the most, is a very strange definition of fairness. Yet fairness and virtue have been central to the spin on Budget 2010. Finance Minister Bill English has been at pains to present his Budget 2010 package as being all good things to all good people – an elixir that will contain a reward for effort, be motivational to all and fair to everyone.
The new income tax rates that will kick in on 1 October, English explained by way of example, will offer an ‘incentive’ for those who mightn’t otherwise decide to work that extra hour of overtime. (On Planet English, everyone is in work and has the luxury of doing overtime, or not.) Lets put to one side the fact that wages for many are so low that people need to work overtime – when they can get it – to make ends meet. The wider reality is that Budget 2010 will cement in place our existing levels of income inequality, or worse. English explicitly recognised this outcome, but portrayed it in benign, or neutral terms. The income tax cuts, he promised, “will more than offset the rise in GST – and low, middle and high income earners will broadly receive the same proportionate increase in disposable income.”
Raising the level of GST – which will hit those on low incomes the hardest – and offering in compensation a package of tax cuts that will reward those on high incomes the most, is a very strange definition of fairness. Yet fairness and virtue have been central to the spin on Budget 2010. Finance Minister Bill English has been at pains to present his Budget 2010 package as being all good things to all good people – an elixir that will contain a reward for effort, be motivational to all and fair to everyone.
The new income tax rates that will kick in on 1 October, English explained by way of example, will offer an ‘incentive’ for those who mightn’t otherwise decide to work that extra hour of overtime. (On Planet English, everyone is in work and has the luxury of doing overtime, or not.) Lets put to one side the fact that wages for many are so low that people need to work overtime – when they can get it – to make ends meet. The wider reality is that Budget 2010 will cement in place our existing levels of income inequality, or worse. English explicitly recognised this outcome, but portrayed it in benign, or neutral terms. The income tax cuts, he promised, “will more than offset the rise in GST – and low, middle and high income earners will broadly receive the same proportionate increase in disposable income.”
Thailand: democracy shot down
Very often, reports effectively blamed the Red Shirts for the killing, because they supposedly failed to accept the Thai government’s offer of elections if the protests were called off. Never mind that the government refused to say when these elections might be, or that once the protests ended it would have had no reason to follow through.
But while Iran is part of the “axis of evil”, seen as a threat by all Western powers, Thailand is a key US ally, and the military backed elite are keen supporters of corporate globalisation.
Former deputy prime minister Supachai Panitchpakdi took over the World Trade Organisation leadership from former NZ Labour leader Mike Moore, and Thailand signed a trade agreement with New Zealand in 2005, as part of efforts to keep the free trade ball rolling after WTO stalled in the early 2000s.
This deal helped facilitate Fisher & Paykel’s relocation of it’s washing machine factory to Thailand in 2007 (which resulted in the layoff of 350 workers in South Auckland).
So long as the Thai elite keep delivering the goods for Western corporations, Western governments and media have no reason to call for democracy.
Exiled Thai political scientist, socialist and Red Shirt activist Giles Ji Ungpakorn has been posting regularly on his blog about what is happening in his homeland.
by Giles Ji Ungpakorn
19 May 2010
The anger of the ordinary people has finally erupted into violence with numerous buildings being set of fire in Bangkok and the provinces. People are also trying to use any means to fight the army. There are reports that Government buildings, banks, the stock-exchange, luxury shopping malls and pro-military media are all being set on fire.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Successful launch of tax justice campaign
Eager petition signers in Auckland
The tax petition to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation was well received at the campaign launch on Saturday. The numbers tell the story, with nearly 900 signatures collected at the seven petition stalls organised around the country.
The stall in Auckland outside the Onehunga supermarket was particularly successful, with nearly 300 signatures collected over three hours. Some people took away bundles of the petition to collect signatures themselves. A dozen people helped out on the stall.
A steady stream of positive feedback on the campaign, and evidence from Saturday’s stalls, suggests that the petition and its demands are going to connect with the majority of people. Especially after the reality of National’s budget starts to sink in. Factor in inflation, on top on the GST hike, and most people will either be no better off or receive only a tiny benefit from the income tax cuts. National’s budget delivered to the rich, not grassroots New Zealanders.
That’s why a broad campaign for tax justice is needed. Removing GST from food would provide an instant and lasting benefit to ordinary people struggling to pay the bills. This common sense tax cut could easily be funded by taxing financial speculation.
How can you help?
Over the next few weeks and months what’s going to matter most, is numbers. The more signatures we collect the more support we’ll attract from individuals and groups. And if we start to record really good numbers of signatures, we’ll be more likely to get local and national media attention, essential for growing the campaign.You can help by collecting signatures from friends, family and workmates. Every little effort will count.
To download a copy of the petition click here. Or if you want to be sent copies of the petition directly, email campaign coordinator Vaughan Gunson svpl(at)xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.
If you would like to help out at tax petition stalls – like the one in Auckland above – in any centre where we have organisers, get in touch with us. If we don’t have a local organiser in your centre, you can become the organiser. We can give you some advice and other assistance. Contact Vaughan (as above).
Venezuela's government takes opposite approach to National
The Chavez government in Venezuela shows there's an alternative to the "austerity measures" being imposed by governments worldwide in the wake of the global economic crisis. Taking the opposite approach from the "save the rich/screw the poor" policies pursued by John Key's National government here, Chavez & Co are going after the rich capitalists. They've enforced a series of nationalisations. And they've tightened up control of the currency, fixing a two-tier exchange rate that works for grassroots Venezuelans.
by Federico Fuentes
23 May, 2010
In recent weeks, local and international media have attacked the left-wing Venezuelan government over alleged “economic woes”.
Pointing to Venezuela’s inflation rate — the highest in Latin America — and an economy that shrank 3.3% last year, the private opposition media is raising fears of a serious economic crisis.
These same media outlets, which have been predicting the fall of President Hugo Chavez for years, argue recent government actions will worsen the situation.
Venezuelan business federation Fedecamaras warned on May 5 that Venezuela faces an “economic and social crisis”.
Venezuela's Economic Woes?
by Federico Fuentes
23 May, 2010
In recent weeks, local and international media have attacked the left-wing Venezuelan government over alleged “economic woes”.
Pointing to Venezuela’s inflation rate — the highest in Latin America — and an economy that shrank 3.3% last year, the private opposition media is raising fears of a serious economic crisis.
These same media outlets, which have been predicting the fall of President Hugo Chavez for years, argue recent government actions will worsen the situation.
Venezuelan business federation Fedecamaras warned on May 5 that Venezuela faces an “economic and social crisis”.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
The GST rise big story of the Budget
The GST rise is definitely the big story of the Budget, even Greenpeace’s press release focuses on it.
Although, disappointingly, they call for the “strengthening” rather than scrapping of the ETS pollution market, and offer an endorsement of the UK’s new Tory leader David Cameron, who allegedly possesses “some forward-thinking and visionary ideas.” (Which is news to me, as I was under the impression he was just another Margaret Thatcher / Tony Blair corporate clone... rather like John Key.)
The focus on this regressive tax increase, rather than the cuts in income tax is bad news for National and a another sign that the public mood is turning against the Government.
In their official statement, the Maori Party did their best to accentuate the positive, by listing all the little projects that got funding, and asking their supporters not to focus on GST:
“We know that the biggest challenge will be in encouraging our constituency to look broader at the whole picture of the budget – rather than focusing on one measure in isolation.”
But such a focus is unavoidable. As Maori Party MP Hone Harawira put’s it:
“GST hits poor people the hardest because nearly all of their money is spent on things that you pay GST on – food, petrol, electricity – so any increase is going to really hurt them.”
That extra 2.5% will be increasing the impact of every peak oil petrol price hike, and every world commodity market induced rise in cheese or bread.
Harawira’s personal statement against the GST rise, and his request to party leaders for permission to vote against the increase, have earned both praise and criticism.
Marty G at The Standard urged Harawira to “have the courage of his convictions” and cross the floor to vote against the Budget even with out his party’s permission. In the event, Harawira’s vote, along with those of the five other Maori Party MPs went for the Budget.
Comments on the post have suggested that voting for the Budget makes Harawira a wimp, a sell-out or a blowhard. But while I would have applauded Harawira had he crossed the floor, I think it would have been a tactical error for him to go against the wishes of his party leaders, at this time.
The right wing of the Maori Party have already tried to force him out, for the trivial offence of using offensive language when pointing out the crimes of Pakeha parliamentarians in a private email. To break ranks over this issue would only given them another excuse.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia had the support of (and was under pressure from) a hikoi of tens of thousands before she broke with Labour over the foreshore and seabed act. Who does Hone Harawira have? How many people took to the streets against the GST rise?
The only thing coming close is the few dozen of us who went out today to launch the Socialist Worker – Alliance petition calling for GST to be removed from food and financial speculation to be taxed.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Big Debate - Is Capitalism Working?
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
7pm-9pm
Library Basement Theatre B15
Auckland University
Unite on Campus and the AUSA International Affairs Officers host this debate, an ideological boxing match between New Zealand activists and personalities fighting over the question: “Is capitalism working?”
Over the last few years the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has decimated housing markets, toppled international finance companies and seen Governments in the USA and across Europe try and rescue banks at the cost of trillions of dollars. American Vice President Joe Biden describes the bank bailouts as “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor” and with general strikes and riots in Greece, the legitimacy of the free market system is in crisis.
A red team consisting of
Matt McCarten - left-wing Herald on Sunday columnist and National Secretary of Unite union.
Mike Treen - Global Peace and Justice Auckland organiser.
Maxine Gay - from the National Distribution Union.
A blue team, headed up by
Matthew Hooton - political commentator and former National Party speechwriter
Fran O'Sullivan - Senior Business Columnist, NZ Herald
Nikki Kaye - Auckland Central National MP
Open to all students and the wider public. Refreshments provided afterwards.
For more information, please contact Joe Carolan, Unite On Campus Co Ordinator-
029 44 55 702 email: joseph@unite.org.nz 0800 2 UNITE
Picking pick-pocketing suits
With the main points of the Budget known well in advance, the main point of interest for me was looking at the reactions.
Apart from Hone Harawera’s statement, my favourite was from the Maritime Union’s Joe Fleetwood, whose press release “National budget an attack on working class” says:
I thought about this when I was in town today. At first I only saw a few men in suits, but there were more when I passed near the court.
Of course I didn’t actually offer any of them five bucks. For one thing I didn’t have than much money, but more importantly, I realised that I have know idea how to pick the expensive suits from the cheap ones.
Was this man a high-paid corporate lawyer, or a common criminal dressed up in his court-appearance best? And how do you tell the difference?
National budget an attack on working class
Press Release: Maritime Union of New Zealand
Thursday, 20 May 2010, 3:24 pm
The Maritime Union of New Zealand says today’s budget is an attack on working class New Zealanders.
Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the increase in GST to 15% was taking money from the pockets of workers to pay for tax cuts for people like John Key, who had so much money they would have trouble knowing what to do with it.
He says rather than increasing GST it would be easier for workers just to hand over a $5 note every time they saw someone walk past in an expensive suit, because this was the actual effect of the GST increase.
“It is a wealth transfer from low to middle income earners to the wealthy.”
GST was a regressive tax that would hit struggling New Zealand families hard.
Mr Fleetwood says that a major problem for New Zealand is growing inequality of wealth.
Inequality leads to social breakdown and long term economic and social problems, as international research has shown, and National’s budget was making inequality worse.
He says the idea promoted by John Key that only high income earners contributed to New Zealand’s economy and society was both offensive and wrong.
“If we are at the stage where New Zealand is being held hostage by a tiny minority of the super rich, maybe it is time to question whether we still live in a democracy?”
Mr Fleetwood says that the international evidence shows that excessive wealth was being accumulated by a few at the top end of the wealth scale, while the majority of workers were squeezed by rising costs and static incomes.
“John Key is rewarding the big business, finance sector CEO types who are the backers of the National Government, whose greed knows no limits.”
He says the obsession with tax cuts was leading New Zealand down a dead end road as tax was essential to pay for hospitals, schools, infrastructure and other vital public goods.
However the tax burden was increasingly falling on low to middle income earners rather than the wealthy, which was the wrong way around.
ENDS
Apart from Hone Harawera’s statement, my favourite was from the Maritime Union’s Joe Fleetwood, whose press release “National budget an attack on working class” says:
“rather than increasing GST it would be easier for workers just to hand over a $5 note every time they saw someone walk past in an expensive suit, because this was the actual effect of the GST increase.”
I thought about this when I was in town today. At first I only saw a few men in suits, but there were more when I passed near the court.
Of course I didn’t actually offer any of them five bucks. For one thing I didn’t have than much money, but more importantly, I realised that I have know idea how to pick the expensive suits from the cheap ones.
Was this man a high-paid corporate lawyer, or a common criminal dressed up in his court-appearance best? And how do you tell the difference?
National budget an attack on working class
Press Release: Maritime Union of New Zealand
Thursday, 20 May 2010, 3:24 pm
The Maritime Union of New Zealand says today’s budget is an attack on working class New Zealanders.
Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the increase in GST to 15% was taking money from the pockets of workers to pay for tax cuts for people like John Key, who had so much money they would have trouble knowing what to do with it.
He says rather than increasing GST it would be easier for workers just to hand over a $5 note every time they saw someone walk past in an expensive suit, because this was the actual effect of the GST increase.
“It is a wealth transfer from low to middle income earners to the wealthy.”
GST was a regressive tax that would hit struggling New Zealand families hard.
Mr Fleetwood says that a major problem for New Zealand is growing inequality of wealth.
Inequality leads to social breakdown and long term economic and social problems, as international research has shown, and National’s budget was making inequality worse.
He says the idea promoted by John Key that only high income earners contributed to New Zealand’s economy and society was both offensive and wrong.
“If we are at the stage where New Zealand is being held hostage by a tiny minority of the super rich, maybe it is time to question whether we still live in a democracy?”
Mr Fleetwood says that the international evidence shows that excessive wealth was being accumulated by a few at the top end of the wealth scale, while the majority of workers were squeezed by rising costs and static incomes.
“John Key is rewarding the big business, finance sector CEO types who are the backers of the National Government, whose greed knows no limits.”
He says the obsession with tax cuts was leading New Zealand down a dead end road as tax was essential to pay for hospitals, schools, infrastructure and other vital public goods.
However the tax burden was increasingly falling on low to middle income earners rather than the wealthy, which was the wrong way around.
ENDS
Monday, 17 May 2010
Launch of nationwide campaign for tax justice
Joint advisory to broad left
from Socialist Worker and Alliance Party
Monday 17 May 2010
The Alliance Party and Socialist Worker are jointly launching a nationwide tax campaign on Saturday 22 May.
The campaign will champion tax changes of benefit to grassroots New Zealanders. The focus will be a non-CIR petition sponsored by both Socialist Worker and the Alliance Party, which requests parliament to:
1. Remove GST from food.
2. Tax financial speculation.
These two demands will address injustices in the current tax system. Grassroots people have to pay tax on one of life’s necessities, food, while financial speculation goes untaxed. These injustices will be made worse when the National government this week delivers its 2010 Budget, where GST will almost certainly be increased to 15%.
The GST hike will compound the pain at the supermarket where food prices are already shooting upwards, driven by international speculation in the necessities of life. The budgets of grassroots New Zealanders will be stretched to breaking point. In this context we expect the petition demands to be very popular.
Targeting neoliberalism
GST is a regressive tax that has strong support within corporate, banking and government circles. And unrestrained financialisation has become the central pillar of neoliberal capitalism and the source of an escalating proportion of the profits made by the world’s super-rich over the last few decades.
The one-two counterpunch contained in the tax petition, to (1) remove GST from food, and (2) tax financial speculation, hits the heart of neoliberalism. The petition will be an important mobilising tool in the strategic struggle around tax policy in New Zealand, with the grassroots facing-off against those who continue to promote the neoliberal agenda.
Taxing financial speculation through the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) would easily fund the removal of GST on food. At the same time an FTT would help discourage financial speculation, which destabilises the economy and causes untold harm to ordinary people, as the global financial crisis has proven.
How you can help
Socialist Worker and the Alliance Party are extending an open invite to other individuals and groups to support our tax campaign, which launches on Saturday 22 May, two days after National's budget.
The most obvious way that you can help is to collect signatures for the petition. The Alliance Party and Socialist Worker will widely distribute copies of our tax petition to everyone who wants to help.
Numbers are going to count. The more signatures we get, the more chance we have of building enough campaign momentum to connect with multitudes of New Zealanders and thus increase the pressure for fundamental changes in government policies.
As our campaign grows, more opportunities may well emerge for wider cooperation among the broad left around tax justice and many other issues. We'd like to get your feedback and hear your ideas.
In solidarity,
Vaughan Gunson (Socialist Worker)
and
Victor Billot (Alliance Party)
For more information contact:
Vaughan Gunson
Campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl(at)xtra.co.nz
Victor Billot
Media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor(at)victorbillot.com
NZ petition targets financialisation, the heartless heart of capitalism
by Grant Morgan
Michael Lewitt, who founded capital management firm HCM in 1991, has just authored a fix-the-system book titled “The Death of Capital: How Creative Policy Can Restore Stability”. He is a conservative free market capitalist.
In a recent column (see below), Lewitt bemoans how “the United States has strayed from a free market model to a system that privatizes gains and socializes losses”.
He continues: “During the last two decades, the American economy has suffered from a series of legal, fiscal and monetary policies that have favored speculation over production. The result has been the financialization of the economy, which has been characterized in economic terms by an unhealthy growth in debt at all levels of the economy and in cultural terms by the monetization of all values.”
Lewitt is calling for “a Tax on Speculation that would apply to the types of speculative activities that have so badly damaged the American economy, including naked credit default swaps, leveraged buyout, quantitative stock trading strategies and other stock and bond transactions”.
Lewitt’s strident criticisms of “speculation” and “financialisation”, and his call for a “Tax on Speculation”, personify the raging disunity within global elites which is starting to unravel their “Born to Rule” legitimacy. The Anti-Revolution is starting to eat its own babies.
Lewitt is trying to rein in financialisation in the belief this is required for American capitalism to overcome its critical “challenges”.
Marxists, however, understand that financialisation is capitalism’s main last hope of surviving a systemic crisis of profitability. If financialisation goes down the toilet, so does capitalism’s global economy. That’s why financialisation cannot be reformed into something else.
(For much more information on financialisation, and the convergence of systemic crises, see my essay, “Beware! The end is nigh! Why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future”, http://unityaotearoa.blogspot.com/2010/03/grant-morgan-beware-end-is-nigh.html.)
On Budget Day, 20 May, it looks like the National-led government in New Zealand will raise GST to 15%. That is similar to save-the-speculators austerity measures by Europe’s governments which are sparking popular protests not only in Greece, but also Portugal and Spain.
On 22 May, two days after National’s budget, Socialist Worker and the Alliance are jointly launching a nationwide tax petition calling on Parliament to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation.
In effect, our petition is targeting financialisation, the heartless heart of neoliberal capitalism. As seen in Europe’s protests, financialisation is becoming the central battleground over what sort of economy we should have and who it should serve.
For more information on the tax petition, keep your eyes on UNITYblog website or email campaign co-ordinatir Vaughan Gunson at socialist-worker(a)pl.net.
Michael Lewitt, who founded capital management firm HCM in 1991, has just authored a fix-the-system book titled “The Death of Capital: How Creative Policy Can Restore Stability”. He is a conservative free market capitalist.
In a recent column (see below), Lewitt bemoans how “the United States has strayed from a free market model to a system that privatizes gains and socializes losses”.
He continues: “During the last two decades, the American economy has suffered from a series of legal, fiscal and monetary policies that have favored speculation over production. The result has been the financialization of the economy, which has been characterized in economic terms by an unhealthy growth in debt at all levels of the economy and in cultural terms by the monetization of all values.”
Lewitt is calling for “a Tax on Speculation that would apply to the types of speculative activities that have so badly damaged the American economy, including naked credit default swaps, leveraged buyout, quantitative stock trading strategies and other stock and bond transactions”.
Lewitt’s strident criticisms of “speculation” and “financialisation”, and his call for a “Tax on Speculation”, personify the raging disunity within global elites which is starting to unravel their “Born to Rule” legitimacy. The Anti-Revolution is starting to eat its own babies.
Lewitt is trying to rein in financialisation in the belief this is required for American capitalism to overcome its critical “challenges”.
Marxists, however, understand that financialisation is capitalism’s main last hope of surviving a systemic crisis of profitability. If financialisation goes down the toilet, so does capitalism’s global economy. That’s why financialisation cannot be reformed into something else.
(For much more information on financialisation, and the convergence of systemic crises, see my essay, “Beware! The end is nigh! Why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future”, http://unityaotearoa.blogspot.com/2010/03/grant-morgan-beware-end-is-nigh.html.)
On Budget Day, 20 May, it looks like the National-led government in New Zealand will raise GST to 15%. That is similar to save-the-speculators austerity measures by Europe’s governments which are sparking popular protests not only in Greece, but also Portugal and Spain.
On 22 May, two days after National’s budget, Socialist Worker and the Alliance are jointly launching a nationwide tax petition calling on Parliament to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation.
In effect, our petition is targeting financialisation, the heartless heart of neoliberal capitalism. As seen in Europe’s protests, financialisation is becoming the central battleground over what sort of economy we should have and who it should serve.
For more information on the tax petition, keep your eyes on UNITYblog website or email campaign co-ordinatir Vaughan Gunson at socialist-worker(a)pl.net.
The Death of Capital
taxMichael E. Lewitt
From John Mauldin’s “Outside the Box” newsletter
May 10, 2010
Two years ago, John Mauldin was kind enough to publish my initial proposals for reforming the financial system. Entitled “How to Fix It,” the April 2008 issue of The HCM Market Letter raised a lot of eyebrows and upset many established interests on Wall Street with its outspoken call for financial reform. Among the changes I called for were the following:
• Compensation reform to better align the interests of Wall Street executives with those of society at large.
• Requiring private equity firms and hedge funds to be registered with regulators.
• Taxing private equity partners’ carried interests at ordinary tax rates instead of capital gains tax rates, and prohibiting private equity firms from going public.
• Sharply reducing the leverage of financial institutions (including hedge funds).
• Banning off-balance sheet vehicles such as Structured Investment Vehicles.
• Reining in quantitative trading strategies.
• Reinstituting the downtick rule with respect to short selling stocks.
At the time these proposals were considered controversial; in retrospect it is clear that they were not aggressive enough. While many of these suggestions have been adopted or are in the process of being adopted, much more needs to be done to stabilize the financial system.
From John Mauldin’s “Outside the Box” newsletter
May 10, 2010
Two years ago, John Mauldin was kind enough to publish my initial proposals for reforming the financial system. Entitled “How to Fix It,” the April 2008 issue of The HCM Market Letter raised a lot of eyebrows and upset many established interests on Wall Street with its outspoken call for financial reform. Among the changes I called for were the following:
• Compensation reform to better align the interests of Wall Street executives with those of society at large.
• Requiring private equity firms and hedge funds to be registered with regulators.
• Taxing private equity partners’ carried interests at ordinary tax rates instead of capital gains tax rates, and prohibiting private equity firms from going public.
• Sharply reducing the leverage of financial institutions (including hedge funds).
• Banning off-balance sheet vehicles such as Structured Investment Vehicles.
• Reining in quantitative trading strategies.
• Reinstituting the downtick rule with respect to short selling stocks.
At the time these proposals were considered controversial; in retrospect it is clear that they were not aggressive enough. While many of these suggestions have been adopted or are in the process of being adopted, much more needs to be done to stabilize the financial system.
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Launch of campaign to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation
Joint media release:
Socialist Worker and Alliance Party
16 May 2010
The Alliance Party and Socialist Worker are jointly launching a nationwide tax campaign on Saturday 22 May. The campaign will champion tax changes that will benefit grassroots New Zealanders.
The campaign will be built around a petition sponsored by both the Alliance Party and Socialist Worker, which requests parliament to:
1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.
“These two demands will address injustices in the current tax system, which sees grassroots people having to pay tax on one of life’s necessities, food, while financial speculation goes untaxed,” says campaign coordinator Vaughan Gunson.
“This injustice will be made worse when the National government delivers the 2010 budget, where GST will almost certainly be increased to 15%,” says Gunson.
“Our campaign will be launched at street petition stalls around the country just two days after the budget announcement, we can expect a lot of support,” says Gunson. “The majority of New Zealanders believe taxing food is wrong.”
“Taxing financial speculation through the introduction of a small percentage Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) would easily fund the removal of GST on food,” says Gunson. “At the same time an FTT would help discourage financial speculation, which destabilises the economy and causes untold harm to ordinary people, as the global financial crisis has proven.”
For more information and comment contact,
Vaughan Gunson
Campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl(at)xtra.co.nz
Victor Billot
Media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor(at)victorbillot.com
The First Socialist International of the 21st Century
by Kiraz Janicke, Federico Fuentes, and Julio Chavez
Venezuelanalysis.com
Apr 26th 2010
During the recently concluded five-month extraordinary congress [1] of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes had the opportunity to discuss President Hugo Chavez’s proposal to form a Fifth Socialist International, with Julio Chavez, a delegate to the PSUV congress and a member of the congress’s international committee, which is charged with drafting a specific plan of action to form a new socialist international.
The proposal that President Hugo Chavez made regarding the formation of a Fifth Socialist International has attracted a lot of attention at a global level. I'm interested in your point of view, as a delegate and member of the International Committee of the Congress of the PSUV, why propose a 5th International and what is the importance of this proposal?
I believe that the proposal launched by the President Hugo Chávez, to raise at this time a global debate on historical relevance of the need to call on all parties, movements and leftist and anti-imperialist currents of the world to have a full discussion, is based on the characterization and in-depth analysis of the crisis of global capitalism. This leads unquestionably to the conclusion that the only way to overcome the cyclical crisis of world capitalism is, in fact, by proposing a model or a path that is completely different from the neo-liberal model, the predatory model, of capitalism. There is no other alternative than the path of transition to socialism.
Venezuelanalysis.com
Apr 26th 2010
During the recently concluded five-month extraordinary congress [1] of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes had the opportunity to discuss President Hugo Chavez’s proposal to form a Fifth Socialist International, with Julio Chavez, a delegate to the PSUV congress and a member of the congress’s international committee, which is charged with drafting a specific plan of action to form a new socialist international.
The proposal that President Hugo Chavez made regarding the formation of a Fifth Socialist International has attracted a lot of attention at a global level. I'm interested in your point of view, as a delegate and member of the International Committee of the Congress of the PSUV, why propose a 5th International and what is the importance of this proposal?
I believe that the proposal launched by the President Hugo Chávez, to raise at this time a global debate on historical relevance of the need to call on all parties, movements and leftist and anti-imperialist currents of the world to have a full discussion, is based on the characterization and in-depth analysis of the crisis of global capitalism. This leads unquestionably to the conclusion that the only way to overcome the cyclical crisis of world capitalism is, in fact, by proposing a model or a path that is completely different from the neo-liberal model, the predatory model, of capitalism. There is no other alternative than the path of transition to socialism.
Friday, 14 May 2010
In solidarity with the Greek people’s resistance against austerity
Joint statement from Asia-Pacific
May 13, 2010
[If your organisation would like to sign on, please email international@socialist-alliance.org.]
We, left and progressive organisations from the Asia-Pacific region, express our solidarity with the resistance of the Greek people against the harsh austerity being imposed upon them by the governments of the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The proposed “rescue package” for the Greek economy by the IMF-EU has triggered a huge struggle that will have worldwide ramifications for working people.
May 13, 2010
[If your organisation would like to sign on, please email international@socialist-alliance.org.]
We, left and progressive organisations from the Asia-Pacific region, express our solidarity with the resistance of the Greek people against the harsh austerity being imposed upon them by the governments of the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The proposed “rescue package” for the Greek economy by the IMF-EU has triggered a huge struggle that will have worldwide ramifications for working people.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Activists send message to Key: “Make the banks pay!”
13 May 2010
Prominent New Zealand activists and unionists are among the 53 public signatories to a letter to prime minister John Key calling for action to curb banking power and protect grassroots people. The full list of public signatories is included below.
The letter, written on behalf of grassroots people in New Zealand, reads:
Dear Mr Key,
Why are you wanting to raise GST? Food and everything else will be more expensive. It's already hard to make ends meet. Why don't you tax the banks and other fat cats that have been ripping us off? We want justice Mr Key, make them pay.
Signed,
Grassroots people of NZ
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Leninism 21 – Hugo Chávez’s latest gift idea
Over the next month or so UNITYblog will be examining “Leninism in the 21st Century”.
We’re seeking the views of socialists and other radicals on the relevance of the Russian revolutionary’s theory of party organisation in today’s struggle against capitalism.
This week, we will start by posting articles from Marxists in the Leninist tradition who have taken a new look at Leninism over the last few years.
First up is “Hugo Chávez’s latest gift idea”, published in the US newspaper Socialist Worker, where researcher Lars Lih outlines his retranslation and re-interpratation of Lenin’s classic “What Is to Be Done?”
Has anyone heard if Chavez has presented “What Is to Be Done?” to Obama?
Hugo Chávez’s latest gift idea
Lars Lih, the author of Lenin Rediscovered: “What Is to Be Done?” in Context, which offers a new interpretation of Lenin’s 1902 book, comments on the news that Hugo Chávez has a new book ready to present to Barack Obama.
June 9, 2009
HUGO CHÁVEZ, the president of Venezuela, has announced on Venezuelan television that the next time he meets with President Barack Obama, he will give the American head of state a short book written in 1902 by one Lenin, entitled What Is to Be Done?
A surprising announcement. The last time Chávez showed his willingness to fill out Obama’s reading list, he gave him a topical book on the situation in Latin America. But what topical interest can be found in a book over a century old, written under the drastically alien circumstances of Tsarist Russia?
Besides, many of us will remember being taught about this book in a poli sci or history class. Isn’t What Is to Be Done? a “blueprint for Soviet tyranny”? Isn’t this the book in which Lenin expressed his contempt for workers--or, in any event, his worry that the workers would never be sufficiently revolutionary?
These worries, so we are told, led Lenin to advocate a party of “professional revolutionaries” from the intelligentsia that would replace a genuine democratic mass movement. All in all, isn’t What Is to Be Done? something of an embarrassment for the left--a book much better forgotten than thrust into the hands of world leaders?
We’re seeking the views of socialists and other radicals on the relevance of the Russian revolutionary’s theory of party organisation in today’s struggle against capitalism.
This week, we will start by posting articles from Marxists in the Leninist tradition who have taken a new look at Leninism over the last few years.
First up is “Hugo Chávez’s latest gift idea”, published in the US newspaper Socialist Worker, where researcher Lars Lih outlines his retranslation and re-interpratation of Lenin’s classic “What Is to Be Done?”
Has anyone heard if Chavez has presented “What Is to Be Done?” to Obama?
Hugo Chávez’s latest gift idea
Lars Lih, the author of Lenin Rediscovered: “What Is to Be Done?” in Context, which offers a new interpretation of Lenin’s 1902 book, comments on the news that Hugo Chávez has a new book ready to present to Barack Obama.
June 9, 2009
HUGO CHÁVEZ, the president of Venezuela, has announced on Venezuelan television that the next time he meets with President Barack Obama, he will give the American head of state a short book written in 1902 by one Lenin, entitled What Is to Be Done?
A surprising announcement. The last time Chávez showed his willingness to fill out Obama’s reading list, he gave him a topical book on the situation in Latin America. But what topical interest can be found in a book over a century old, written under the drastically alien circumstances of Tsarist Russia?
Besides, many of us will remember being taught about this book in a poli sci or history class. Isn’t What Is to Be Done? a “blueprint for Soviet tyranny”? Isn’t this the book in which Lenin expressed his contempt for workers--or, in any event, his worry that the workers would never be sufficiently revolutionary?
These worries, so we are told, led Lenin to advocate a party of “professional revolutionaries” from the intelligentsia that would replace a genuine democratic mass movement. All in all, isn’t What Is to Be Done? something of an embarrassment for the left--a book much better forgotten than thrust into the hands of world leaders?
Monday, 10 May 2010
Leninism 21 – Are Lenin’s ideas relevant in the 21st Century?
During the month of May (and possibly beyond) UNITYblog will examine “Leninism in the 21st Century”, and we’d like you to participate.
Contributions from Leftists (both Leninist and not) from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and around the world will be posted from the second week of May (In the first week we’ll post some existing articles off the net) [OK, running a bit behind schedule on that one!].
Old debates
Last Century versions of Lenin’s ideas were followed by socialists around the world. Many others, from left to right condemned Leninism as a fast road to dictatorship.
Even among those who call themselves Leninists, there are many interpretations of Lenin’s theory of socialist organisation. Some argue he wanted a “small party of professional revolutionaries” others a mass party of rank-and-file workers, but one where all members were committed to the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. Some say the aim of this party was to take all power in to its own hands, other to lead the working class to take power for itself.
These are old debates, but still important to anyone who sees Lenin’s ideas as relevant today – either as a guide to action, or something to argue against.
It’s the relevance of Lenin’s ideas, specifically his theory of party organisation, that UNITYblog would like your views on. What (if anything) should socialists, revolutionaries and other radicals take from Lenin and apply to the struggles of today, and what (if anything) should we reject?
New context
The context for asking these questions, include the rise of broad left parties and alliances in many countries, including Venezuela and Bolivia, where socialist revolutions are being led by broad alliances of parties and social movements, not a single Leninist organisation.
In a number of Western countries, some well-known Leninist groups appear to be abandoning Lenin’s principle of an exclusively revolutionary organisation.
Broad Left parties such as Denmark’s Red Green Alliance, Portugal’s Left Blog and German’s Left Party include revolutionary and non-revolutionary groups and individuals.
In France the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR – one of the world’s biggest Trotskyist groups) dissolved itself in order to establish the broader New Anti-Capitalist Party. Over in Australia, the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) has also dissolved itself into the Socialist Alliance, which includes revolutionary and non-revolutionary socialists.
Here in Aotearoa, Socialist Worker, (publishers of UNITYblog) is one of several socialist groups who traditionally identify as “Leninist”. But we are also advocates of a broad left strategy and hope to see the formation of a “new workers party” or “broad left party” that includes not only reformist socialists, but also opponents of neo-liberal economics who are not socialists at all.
What is to be done (today)?
In raising the question of Leninism in the 21st Century? we are asking for your views on “what is the best way for the Left to organise today?” and “what is the relevance of Leninism to that?”
We’re asking these questions of a wide range of Leftists, many who are current or former members of Leninist groups, some who are not. So I am anticipating a wide range of interpretations about what Leninism is, let alone what is of value today.
You may find it helpful to answer the following questions, or you may prefer to address these issues in your own way. Either is fine by me:
Those of you who identify as Leninists or Marxists may also like to consider the following questions raised in UNITYblog’s first post on this topic Happy birthday Lenin:
• Have the former members of the LCR and the DSP have abandoned Leninism? Does it matter?
• What is the role of revolutionaries and Marxists within these broader reformists (or not explicitly revolutionary) parties?
• Was Lenin wrong to advocate organisational separation of Marxists from other socialists? Or was this idea right at the time, but not now?
Awaiting your response with interest,
David Colyer | colyer@pl.net
editor www.UNITYblognz.com
Contributions from Leftists (both Leninist and not) from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and around the world will be posted from the second week of May (In the first week we’ll post some existing articles off the net) [OK, running a bit behind schedule on that one!].
Old debates
Even among those who call themselves Leninists, there are many interpretations of Lenin’s theory of socialist organisation. Some argue he wanted a “small party of professional revolutionaries” others a mass party of rank-and-file workers, but one where all members were committed to the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. Some say the aim of this party was to take all power in to its own hands, other to lead the working class to take power for itself.
These are old debates, but still important to anyone who sees Lenin’s ideas as relevant today – either as a guide to action, or something to argue against.
It’s the relevance of Lenin’s ideas, specifically his theory of party organisation, that UNITYblog would like your views on. What (if anything) should socialists, revolutionaries and other radicals take from Lenin and apply to the struggles of today, and what (if anything) should we reject?
New context
The context for asking these questions, include the rise of broad left parties and alliances in many countries, including Venezuela and Bolivia, where socialist revolutions are being led by broad alliances of parties and social movements, not a single Leninist organisation.
In a number of Western countries, some well-known Leninist groups appear to be abandoning Lenin’s principle of an exclusively revolutionary organisation.
Broad Left parties such as Denmark’s Red Green Alliance, Portugal’s Left Blog and German’s Left Party include revolutionary and non-revolutionary groups and individuals.
Here in Aotearoa, Socialist Worker, (publishers of UNITYblog) is one of several socialist groups who traditionally identify as “Leninist”. But we are also advocates of a broad left strategy and hope to see the formation of a “new workers party” or “broad left party” that includes not only reformist socialists, but also opponents of neo-liberal economics who are not socialists at all.
What is to be done (today)?
In raising the question of Leninism in the 21st Century? we are asking for your views on “what is the best way for the Left to organise today?” and “what is the relevance of Leninism to that?”
We’re asking these questions of a wide range of Leftists, many who are current or former members of Leninist groups, some who are not. So I am anticipating a wide range of interpretations about what Leninism is, let alone what is of value today.
You may find it helpful to answer the following questions, or you may prefer to address these issues in your own way. Either is fine by me:
• Are you (or have you ever been) a Leninist?
• How would you sum up Lenin’s ideas on socialist organisation?
• What are the greatest challenges facing the the Left today?
• Are Lenin’s ideas on organisation relevant in the 21st Century?
• How should we organise to meet those challenges?
Those of you who identify as Leninists or Marxists may also like to consider the following questions raised in UNITYblog’s first post on this topic Happy birthday Lenin:
• Have the former members of the LCR and the DSP have abandoned Leninism? Does it matter?
• What is the role of revolutionaries and Marxists within these broader reformists (or not explicitly revolutionary) parties?
• Was Lenin wrong to advocate organisational separation of Marxists from other socialists? Or was this idea right at the time, but not now?
Awaiting your response with interest,
David Colyer | colyer@pl.net
editor www.UNITYblognz.com
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Greeks protest against policies similar to what John Key will introduce on 20 May
The heat on the street in Greece is rising towards red-hot as the social democratic PASOK government moves towards harsh austerity measures to save rich financiers from their own crisis.
Major cities in Greece are starting to see semi-spontaneous convulsions from below. These are the type of mass actions which just might turn into popular insurrection.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, says that “Europe’s future is at stake” in Greece. The destiny of the European Union, and Germany’s place in the EU, depended on the outcome of the Greek crisis, she added. (”Three killed as Greek austerity protest turns violent”, Times Online, 5 May 2010.)
So the geopolitical stakes are being raised in tandem with the escalating anger on the streets of Greece.
Citizens of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Britain and other European countries on the brink of financial crisis will be following Greek events very closely. They know their own governments are leaning towards austerity measures to bail out the bankers.
Many European states have already seen mass protests and strikes by workers, students and other grassroots folk over recent months.
The economics editor of The Independent newspaper in Britain has pointed towards “the start of the greatest demonstration of public unrest seen on the continent since the revolutionary fervour of 1968”. (Sean O’Grady, “Greece leads Europe’s winter of discontent”, The Independent, 24 February 2010.)
In my essay on the looming collapse of global capitalism, I ended the section on the profitability crisis with these words:
“The obscenity of governments protecting the rich at great cost to the poor is stirring up a social contagion. What cannot be foreseen is how far and how fast the contagion will spread around the globe.” (“Beware! The end is nigh! Why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future”, UNITY journal, March 2010, http://unityaotearoa.blogspot.com/2010/03/grant-morgan-beware-end-is-nigh.html.)
The mass convulsions in Greece, and the upswing of popular protest across other European states, are signs that the social contagion is spreading at a fast rate across rich countries as well as poor ones.
Here, in far-away New Zealand, most people may think such events are a foreign phenomenon. Yet Kiwis are facing a rise in GST to 15%, which will blow many family budgets to bits so that the rich can be awarded massive tax breaks.
And Jayati Ghosh, an Indian professor of economics, forecasts the intervention of big financiers into the international food market as the driver for another gigantic bubble in global food prices. That too will badly hurt the grassroots of Aotearoa. (See Jayati’s video interview on The Real News, 5 May 2010, http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5067.)
Financialisation, the central pillar of neoliberal capitalism, has been driving government measures which soak the poor in order to bail out financial speculators. New Zealand is no exception, as we will see from the National-led government’s tax changes on 20 May that blatantly favour the wealthiest few percent at the expense of everyone else.
What we need in New Zealand is a popular campaign to roll back financialisation. Watch this space for more news about what we can do!
[Picture shows Greek demonstration from March 2010]
Three killed as Greek austerity protest turns violent
Times Online, May 5, 2010
Three people were killed in a firebomb attack on a bank in central Athens today as protests against the Greek Government turned into violent riots.
Buildings and cars were set alight and burning barricades set up in the streets by demonstrators angry at proposed austerity measures.
Global food bubble on the way?
Jayati Ghosh: Food prices set to surge due to Wall Street speculation
From The Real News network
Dr. Jayati Ghosh is Professor of Economics and currently also Chairperson at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Educated at Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Cambridge, England, her research interests include globalization, international trade and finance, employment patterns in developing countries, macroeconomic policy, and issues related to gender and development.
From The Real News network
Bio
Dr. Jayati Ghosh is Professor of Economics and currently also Chairperson at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Educated at Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Cambridge, England, her research interests include globalization, international trade and finance, employment patterns in developing countries, macroeconomic policy, and issues related to gender and development.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
UK elections: cuts coming whoever forms government
UK elections have resulted in a hung parliament, with no party having a majority of seats.
As expected Labour was badly punished. The Tories (or Conservative Party, the UK’s version of National) are now the biggest party in parliament, but are not as far ahead of Labour as they would have hoped.
The third party, the Liberal Democrats who many expected to make a breakthrough this election and even beat Labour, had a comparatively small increase in votes. But they will most likely choose which of the other two parties will lead the next government.
Results for the smaller parties have been mixed. The Green Party leader Caroline Lucas won Brighton Pavilion, their first seat in the UK parliament.
But Respect’s George Galloway failed to get back in. Respect’s other great hope, Salma Yaqoob came a close second in Birmingham Hall Green. Everywhere else Respect and the various socialist candidates did very poorly, with results comparable to those of the Alliance, Workers Party or RAM here.
The Nazi British National party failed to win a seat, but still won half a million votes across the country.
What to make of the results?
As expected Labour was badly punished. The Tories (or Conservative Party, the UK’s version of National) are now the biggest party in parliament, but are not as far ahead of Labour as they would have hoped.
The third party, the Liberal Democrats who many expected to make a breakthrough this election and even beat Labour, had a comparatively small increase in votes. But they will most likely choose which of the other two parties will lead the next government.
Results for the smaller parties have been mixed. The Green Party leader Caroline Lucas won Brighton Pavilion, their first seat in the UK parliament.
Caroline Lucas
Photo from Rikki @ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/11/355209.html
But Respect’s George Galloway failed to get back in. Respect’s other great hope, Salma Yaqoob came a close second in Birmingham Hall Green. Everywhere else Respect and the various socialist candidates did very poorly, with results comparable to those of the Alliance, Workers Party or RAM here.
The Nazi British National party failed to win a seat, but still won half a million votes across the country.
What to make of the results?
Friday, 7 May 2010
Support the struggle for democracy and social justice in Nepal
The
following joint statement of solidarity has been signed by a number
of left and progressive organisations in the Asia-Pacific region.
Please distribute widely.
May
6, 2010
On
May Day, international workers’ day, a huge demonstration of
between 500,000-1 million people took place in Kathmandu. Called by
the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), people came
from all over Nepal to make their voices heard.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
10,000 US workers protest on Wall Street
Auckland wasn’t the only city to see big protests last week, on Thursday 10,000 trade unionists and grassroots activists marched on wall street, in what Russia’s RT News described as, “The largest anti-Wall Street rally since the credit crunch has taken place in New York. Thousands of workers and trade union leaders marched in anger over lost jobs and ruined lives, demanding answers from the source of the trouble – the banks.”
Hat tip Credit Writedonws
More coverage from Democracy Now:
Hat tip Credit Writedonws
More coverage from Democracy Now:
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Texts from the People’s Conference on Climate Change
Links has all the key documents from the World Peoples' Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth availiable here.
UNITY leaflet on collapse of capitalism
Click here to download UNITY leaflet on the theme of capitalism's collapse. It provides an introduction to the five crises besetting the world system: the Profitability crisis, Ecological crisis, Resource crisis, Imperial crisis, and Legitimacy crisis. The first letters of these five interconnected crises spells P.E.R.I.L, for capitalism and for us, if we don't unite globally to bring about a decent future.
The leaflet draws from longtime socialist campaigner Grant Morgan's essay, 'Beware! The end is nigh!: Why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future'. Grant's full essay can be read by purchasing a copy of the latest UNITY journal. Cover price $5. Contact Len, email office(at)sworker.pl.net or phone the Socialist Centre (09)634 3984.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
European Left Parties: Statement on the European Crisis
1. The global economic crisis continues. Massive amounts of money have been injected into the financial system – $14 trillion in bailouts in the United States, Britain, and the eurozone, $1.4 trillion new bank loans in China last year – in an effort to restabilize the world economy. But it remains an open question whether or not these efforts will be enough to produce a sustainable recovery. Growth remains very sluggish in the advanced economies, while unemployment continues to rise. There are fears that a new financial bubble centred this time on China is developing. The protracted character of the crisis – which is the most severe since the Great Depression – reflects its roots in the very nature of capitalism as a system.
2. After a harsh wave of job cuts, in Europe the focus on the crisis is now on the public sector and social welfare system. The very financial markets that have been rescued thanks to the bailouts are now up in arms about the increase in government borrowing this has involved. They are demanding massive cuts in public expenditure. This amounts to a class attempt to shift the costs of the crisis from those who precipitated it – above all, the banks – to working people – not just those employed in the public sector but also all those who consume public services. The demands for austerity and public sector ‘reform’ are the clearest sign that neoliberalism, intellectually discredited by the crisis, nevertheless continues to dominate policy-making.
3. Greece is currently in the eye of the storm. It is one of several European economies that are particularly vulnerable, partly because of a buildup of debt during the boom, partly because they find it hard to compete with Germany, the giant of the eurozone. Under pressure from the financial markets, the European Commission, and the German government, the government of George Papandreou has torn up its election promises and announced cuts amounting to four per cent of national income.
4. Fortunately Greece has a magnificent history of social resistance running back to the 1970s. Following on from the youth revolt of December 2008, the Greek workers’ movement has responded to the government’s cuts packages with a wave of strikes and demonstrations.
We also welcome the example of the Iceland referendum in which people rejected debt refunding imposed by the banks.
5. Greek workers need the solidarity of socialists, trade unionists, and anti-capitalists everywhere. Greece is simply the first European country to have been targeted by the financial markets, but they have plenty of others in their sights, first of all, Spain and Portugal.
6. We need a programme of measures that can lift the economy out of crisis on the basis of giving priority to people’s needs rather than profits and imposing democratic control over the market We need to stand for an anti capitalist answer: our life, our health, our jobs before profits.
7. We resolve to organize European solidarity activities again cuts and capitalist attacks. A victory for Greek workers will strengthen resistance to the cuts elsewhere.
2. After a harsh wave of job cuts, in Europe the focus on the crisis is now on the public sector and social welfare system. The very financial markets that have been rescued thanks to the bailouts are now up in arms about the increase in government borrowing this has involved. They are demanding massive cuts in public expenditure. This amounts to a class attempt to shift the costs of the crisis from those who precipitated it – above all, the banks – to working people – not just those employed in the public sector but also all those who consume public services. The demands for austerity and public sector ‘reform’ are the clearest sign that neoliberalism, intellectually discredited by the crisis, nevertheless continues to dominate policy-making.
3. Greece is currently in the eye of the storm. It is one of several European economies that are particularly vulnerable, partly because of a buildup of debt during the boom, partly because they find it hard to compete with Germany, the giant of the eurozone. Under pressure from the financial markets, the European Commission, and the German government, the government of George Papandreou has torn up its election promises and announced cuts amounting to four per cent of national income.
4. Fortunately Greece has a magnificent history of social resistance running back to the 1970s. Following on from the youth revolt of December 2008, the Greek workers’ movement has responded to the government’s cuts packages with a wave of strikes and demonstrations.
We also welcome the example of the Iceland referendum in which people rejected debt refunding imposed by the banks.
5. Greek workers need the solidarity of socialists, trade unionists, and anti-capitalists everywhere. Greece is simply the first European country to have been targeted by the financial markets, but they have plenty of others in their sights, first of all, Spain and Portugal.
6. We need a programme of measures that can lift the economy out of crisis on the basis of giving priority to people’s needs rather than profits and imposing democratic control over the market We need to stand for an anti capitalist answer: our life, our health, our jobs before profits.
- All cuts in domestic public expenditure to be halted or reversed: stop pensions ‘reform’; health and education are not for sale;
- A guaranteed right to work and a programme of public investment in green jobs – public transport, renewable energy industries, and adapting private and public buildings to reduce carbon dioxide emissions;
- For a public banking service and financial system under public control!
- No scapegoating of immigrants and refugees: legalize them!
- No to military expenditure: Withdrawal of Western troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, drastic cuts in military spending, and the dissolution of NATO
7. We resolve to organize European solidarity activities again cuts and capitalist attacks. A victory for Greek workers will strengthen resistance to the cuts elsewhere.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Joint Statement on May Day
by 48 organisations in 12 countries
(Australia, Bangladesh, China, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines & Thailand)
All over the world workers are organising. We are organising to demand a living wage. For health & safety at work. For compensation & rehabilitation. For the rights of migrant workers and refugees, for citizenship rights for migrant workers and their families. For the right to employment on equal terms. Workers are organising against deportations, against racism, against discrimination. Workers are organising against wars that are a disaster to millions of workers.
Workers are organising for secure jobs. Against casualisation, contracting out & outsourcing. Workers are organising for the rights of women workers. For better working conditions, to stop work becoming harder, faster, more stressful and dangerous. For shorter working hours, for paid leave and paid holidays. For affordable housing and health care. For free education and welfare, against child labour and poverty and inequality. Workers are organising for the rights of Indigenous communities who have been stripped of their land and resources. Workers are organising to fight discrimination against minorities, women, lesbians & gays.
While we struggle against these problems, we see that our planet is being ruined through reckless, wasteful and unsustainable production for profit.
Workers can fix these problems. Workers can reorganise all industry to produce for peoples’ need instead of profit. Resources can be distributed to people and places who need them so that our children will have a future.
To do this workers have to dismantle imperialism and the capitalist system. We need to make decisions together in our own workplaces, unions & political organisations about the way production and sharing need to be restructured. We need this. We have the numbers.
We control production. Capitalists will be defeated.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Is capitalism on the path to collapse? – Video from Wellington public meeting
Grant Morgan, author of UNITYblog's current Feature Essay, has just completed a short speaking tour.
His talks in Christchurch and Wellington drew on, and developed, his 20,000 word essay on why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future.
He argues that for the first time in capitalism’s 500-year history, a perfect storm is beginning to engulf the world system.
The main elements are system-level crises of profitability, ecology, resources, imperialism and legitimacy. Their concentration and intensification look set to trigger world system collapse within a historically short time period.
Humanity will face a life-and-death struggle as we confront economic chaos, global warming, resource scarcity and imperial breakdown.
Can we survive the chaos, conflict and carnage of looming collapse? Can Earth’s citizens collectively built a decent future in the face of elite counteractions? Yes, says Grant.
He resurrects Marx’s analysis of social change to explain the growing intersection of system-level crises which will collapse global capitalism as surely as previous civilisations were brought down by their own perfect storms.
“At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production,” said Marx. “Then begins an era of social revolution.”
An era of social revolution will be triggered by the perfect storm appearing over capitalism’s horizon as it collapses the economic, ecological and imperial foundations of the world system. The need to unite or die will call forth a Global Uniting of the mass of humanity which ushers in a society of solidarity.
Watch video footage of the Wellington talk below (apologies for the background hum in the audio track)
His talks in Christchurch and Wellington drew on, and developed, his 20,000 word essay on why global capitalism is tipping towards collapse, and how we can act for a decent future.
He argues that for the first time in capitalism’s 500-year history, a perfect storm is beginning to engulf the world system.
The main elements are system-level crises of profitability, ecology, resources, imperialism and legitimacy. Their concentration and intensification look set to trigger world system collapse within a historically short time period.
Humanity will face a life-and-death struggle as we confront economic chaos, global warming, resource scarcity and imperial breakdown.
Can we survive the chaos, conflict and carnage of looming collapse? Can Earth’s citizens collectively built a decent future in the face of elite counteractions? Yes, says Grant.
He resurrects Marx’s analysis of social change to explain the growing intersection of system-level crises which will collapse global capitalism as surely as previous civilisations were brought down by their own perfect storms.
“At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production,” said Marx. “Then begins an era of social revolution.”
An era of social revolution will be triggered by the perfect storm appearing over capitalism’s horizon as it collapses the economic, ecological and imperial foundations of the world system. The need to unite or die will call forth a Global Uniting of the mass of humanity which ushers in a society of solidarity.
Watch video footage of the Wellington talk below (apologies for the background hum in the audio track)
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