The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
“I like
thieves. Some of my best friends are thieves. Why, just last week we had the
president of the bank over for dinner.” W.C. Fields.
The
capitalist system is in the throes of the worse financial crisis since the
Great Depression. This is the view not only of the billionaire George Soros,
but also of the International Monetary Fund, the custodian of the capitalist
system, and all the serious capitalist commentators.
For the second year running the Hands Off Venezuela campaign
and Socialist Appeal made an intervention at the University of Glasgow
Fresher’s Fair. Through the course of the three day fair four supporters of HOV
and Socialist Appeal manned a stall selling various pieces of material
including the Hands Off Venezuela magazine and Socialist Appeal journal.
Hundreds of flyers for the Hands Off Venezuela campaign were distributed and
over fifty names were registered as showing interest in setting up a Hands Off
Venezuela society at the university.
In
response to coup plotting in both Bolivia and Venezuela, the Hands Off
Venezuela Campaign, together with several other Latin American
solidarity organisations, organised a picket outside the US Embassy in
London followed by a highly successful public meeting, where all
speakers and participants condemned the manoeuvres of US imperialism
and pledged themselves to keep up the solidarity activity.
In the first part, Ed dealt with the housing shortage, the renting crisis and the attack on public housing. Here he deals with home ownership and outlines a socialist programme.
In the absence of decent rented accommodation, thousands of people look to
buy in order to get a roof over their heads. But this is a major problem for
people. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors estimates that
affordability for first-time buyers has fallen by 351% over the last 10 years. Equally,
repossessions were up 20% during 2007, which hit an eight-year high.
Living in Britain in the 21st century we should all at least expect to have decent a
decent place to live at an affordable price. Having your own place should not be
down to luck or to a ‘dream’ of owning your own home: it should be your
right. We all should expect that amidst the massive wealth of British
society all people who live here can at least have a decent home – is
this really too much to ask?
Join us for a picket of the US embassy and public meeting on Wednesday,
September 17, in London to defend the Bolivian and Venezuelan
revolutions! Download and print off this A4 leaflet and distribute it as widely as possible.
The American education company Kaplan has announced plans to open a
profit seeking university in the UK. Although only a small beginning,
this opens the way to a profit-driven higher education system. The
first move was the government’s, who recently relaxed laws on who can
award degrees. They are in effect trying to open up the concept of a
degree to market speculation and commodification.
The
Observer (17.08.08) ran a front page headline “Health chief attacks drug giants
over huge profits.” Sir Michael Rawlins hit out after the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was accused of ‘barbarism’ for refusing to
approve expensive kidney drugs. NICE said the drugs ‘only’ gave the patient an
extra few months of life. We wonder if they would be so insouciant if it were their
lives on the line?
“We
are told we are being mean all the time, but what nobody mentions is why the
drugs are so expensive,” Rawlins commented.
£8.80 for a 39 hour week!
The ‘Guardian’ reported (30.06.08) “After a 39-hour week, one man took home
£8.80 when his monthly rent of £155 was deducted in one week. Another man
worked a 70-hour week, earning £420, but was not paid overtime and after having
£228 deducted for repayment on tools was left with £66. A third man worked a
40-hour week but was left with £13 after paying £155 for a month’s rent. As
self-employed workers they received no holiday pay.
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of Ucatt, said: "This case is the worst
we have seen. These workers were virtually destitute.
Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal
income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, said about 68% of foreign
companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes.
"It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing
to support our country," said
Senator Byron Dorgan.
As food prices
soar world-wide it was reported recently on the BBC that ‘Ethiopia has launched an urgent
appeal to international donors for more than $300m (£154m) of emergency aid’.
According the news item, ‘a
total of 4.6 million people are now thought to need food aid, because of the
drought which struck most of the country in the early part of this year. In
some parts of the country, health centres and feeding clinics are already being
overwhelmed with large numbers of severely malnourished children. Existing
stocks of food aid will cover June, but the crunch will come in July.’
The following statements were
unanimously passed at the World Congress of the International Marxist Tendency. A detailed report about the congress will follow in the coming weeks.