The Plough
Volume 3, Number 6
18 October 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) RSYM Conference in Wicklow
3) Founding Statement of the Republican Socialist Youth Movement
4) Capitalism Means Working for Low Wages in Dangerous Conditions
5) From the Newspapers
6) Letters
7) What's On
*******
EDITORIAL
This edition of The Plough carries the foundation statement of the
Republican Socialist Youth Movement. This, at a time when radical
republicanism is in turmoil, is a welcome development. It is good to
see that young people have not been disillusioned by the setbacks that
the republican struggle has suffered. The renewal of radical
republicanism is a mammoth task and the IRSP are determined to play
our part in the revival of progressive radical republicanism firmly
based on the revolutionary politics of James Connolly. That there is a
need for a strong socialist voice in this world is clear from reading
Cde. L O'R's series of articles on the reality of the capitalist
world. Dealing with the facts and figures, he has exposed the reality
of capitalism and the drive for low wages and unhealthy conditions.
His argument is re-enforced by two articles reprinted from the
Guardian. One deals with ASDA, the chain store which is setting up a
number of stores in the North of Ireland in the coming months. The
second article points out what our own experience tells us - that the
poor are six times more likely to suffer murder than the more affluent
in society.
*******
RSYM CONFERENCE IN WICKLOW
The Republican Socialist Youth Movement was founded by young
republicans, socialists and members of the two flute bands aligned to
the Irish Republican Socialist Party at a weekend residential at
Glencree Centre for Conflict Resolution from Friday September 30th
until Sunday October 2nd. The participants at the inaugural conference
were largely inexperienced in the field of politics and the level of
politicisation was low. However, all participants left having learned
something.
The day started with a lecture on the history of the movement by
ex-INLA prisoner Gerard McGarrigle. Gerard spoke specifically on the
movement in the period of the late 80s until the middle of the 90s,
mentioning his own personal experiences. Ex-INLA prisoner Willie
Gallagher then spoke on the history of the movement within the
prisons, relying heavily on his own personal experiences also.
Willie's lecture had a profound impact on the audience as he spoke of
his hunger strike, the cages, H-Blocks, dirty protest and so forth.
Willie mentioned the disastrous effects of other organisations
attitudes towards the movement in a historical sense he also pointed
out that numerous events such as escapes from Long Kesh by INLA
prisoners have been effectively removed from written history.
Once Willie had finished, the participants were divided into five
workshop groups. The groups penned their thoughts on the movement, the
direction of the movement, what is needed within the flute bands and
so forth. They submitted their thoughts orally, most of which were
centered on the need for a greater amount of discipline within the
flute bands and the need for those within the flute bands to
understand what and whom they represent.
We are hoping to organise such weekends again focused primarily on
educational seminars. We would like to thank Teach Na Failte for their
assistance and support throughout the weekend.
(Sean Mac Ruadhan, RSYM)
*******
FOUNDING STATEMENT OF THE REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST YOUTH MOVEMENT
13 October 2005
Republican Socialist Youth Movement
http://www.rsym.org/
Founding Statement of the Republican Socialist Youth Movement
The Republican Socialist Youth Movement was officially formed in
County Wicklow on 1 October 2005 by socialist and republican youth
from throughout Ireland. The RSYM declares its intention to work
towards National Liberation and Socialist Revolution. The Youth
Movement intends to do this by submitting its membership to intensive
political education and activism that will prepare them for their
future role in the struggle of our class for liberation.
The RSYM upholds the analysis of the IRSM on the nature of the six
county state, the current ceasefire and political strategy of the RSM.
The RSYM defend the right of the Irish people to bear arms against
imperialist onslaught.
That strategy is to agitate, educate and organise within our class to
mobilise our class towards the objective of removing the Northern
colonial and Southern neo-colonial statelets on this island, thus
ending imperialism and capitalism, and preparing the basic structures
for an Irish Workers' Republic, taking our direct inspiration from
Irish socialist martyrs such as Liam Mellows, Ta Power and Gino
Gallagher and the great theoreticians Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels,
Vladimir Lenin and James Connolly.
The RSYM's intensive education programs, international solidarity work
and active agitation within our class will see our goals realised.
*******
CAPITALISM MEANS WORKING FOR LOW WAGES...
By Liam O'Ruairc
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 68 percent
of the world's population is economically active.
Current estimates for 2003 show that 1.39 billion people on the world
work but are still unable to lift themselves and their families above
the US $2 a day poverty line. Among them, 550 million cannot even lift
themselves and their families above the extreme US $1 threshold.
Expressed in shares, this means that 49.7 per cent of the world's
workers (and over 58.7 per cent of the developing world's workers) are
not earning enough to lift themselves and their families above the US
$2 a day poverty line and that 19.7 per cent of the employed persons
in the world (and therefore over 23.3 percent of the developing
world's workers) are currently living on less than US $1 a day.
On top of the need to create 1.39 billion decent jobs for those people
who work but still live with their families below the US $2 a day
poverty line, account has to be taken of the number of people who were
looking for work but could not find any employment opportunity to get
an idea of the size of the employment component of the decent work
deficit in the world. In 2003 there were 185.9 million people in the
world who were unemployed, despite the recovery from the economic
slowdown in 2001 and 2002.
Source:
International Labour Organisation, World Employment Report 2004/2005,
p.24.)
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/wer2004.htm
...IN DANGEROUS CONDITIONS
Production in the global economy has shifted from relatively
well-regulated, high-wage, often unionised plants in the developed
world to very low-wage, unregulated, non-union production facilities
in the developing world.
Workers in these factories are often subjected to uncontrolled
chemical exposures, high noise and temperature levels, unguarded
machinery and other safety hazards, as well as ergonomic hazards from
long hours of intensive manual assembly tasks. Worker training on the
nature of these hazardous exposures and how they can be reduced or
eliminated is virtually unknown.
The ILO estimates that some 2.2 million people around the world
succumb to work related accidents or diseases every year. Worldwide,
there are around 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million
victims of work related illnesses annually. Deaths due to work-related
accidents and illnesses represent 3.9 percent of all deaths and 15
percent of the world's population suffers a minor or major
occupational accident or work related disease in any one year. Up to
30% of unemployed report that they suffer from an injury or disease
dating from the time at which they were employed and is a hindrance to
finding new employment.
Many countries, such as Indonesia and Guatemala, have limited or very
general regulations on occupational safety and health, while other
countries, like Mexico or China, have adequate laws that are simply
not enforced in any meaningful way.
Part of the reason for the non-enforcement of occupational safety and
health laws is the lack of resources – human, financial and technical
– in developing countries. Budget austerity programs imposed by
international financial agencies force governments to slash public
expenditures, including those for the recruitment, training and
equipping of workplace safety inspectors. Corruption at all levels of
regulatory development and enforcement is also a major factor working
against workplace health and safety.
The biggest problem, however, is a lack of political will to enforce
existing rules or to create new ones. Many developing countries, such
as Mexico, are heavily indebted to private banks and institutions like
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These countries are
completely dependent on foreign investment to pay the interest, let
alone the principal, on these debts. So any policy that "discourages
foreign investment" – such as enforcement of occupational and
environmental health laws – is economic suicide and a political
impossibility.
SOURCE:
Vulnerable workers in the Global Economy, by Garrett Brown,
Occupational Hazards, 04/08/2004
International Labour Organisation, World Day for Safety and Health at
Work 2005: A Background Paper
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/download/sh_background.pdf
*******
FROM THE NEWSPAPERS
*
London Guardian
17 October 2005
ASDA Attacked Over Employees' Rights
By Terry Macalister
ASDA has come under fire from a charity accusing the supermarket group
of planning a "strategic assault" on the working conditions of its staff.
War on Want and the GMB general union fear management proposals for a
major shake-up in staff operations at the Lutterworth distribution
centre in Leicestershire will be rolled out nationwide. They say ASDA
- owned by the US retail group Wal-Mart - has drawn up a "Chip Away
strategy 2005" aimed at reducing costs and increasing productivity at
a time of general falling British retail sales.
According to that strategy, outlined in documents shown to the
Guardian – the company would like to:
· Remove the right of staff to take industrial disputes to the
arbitration service ACAS
· Implement the use of "single man loading" for jobs that involve
lifting, even though Asda's own risk assessment acknowledges the need
for two people to undertake such tasks
· Encourage supervisors to "take the credence out of breaks" by ending
rest times early thereby "leading by example"
· Remove sick pay for the first three days of absence.
The plans were revealed by War on Want alongside the launch of ASDA
Wal-Mart: The Alternative Report, which claims the company keeps costs
low by means of harsh working regimes in its supermarkets and depots
as well as demanding ever reduced prices from suppliers in developing
countries. The report is co-sponsored by the GMB union.
"ASDA Wal-Mart makes a big deal of its low prices, but behind the
bargains exists a trail of exploitation and hardship. ASDA Wal-Mart is
riding roughshod over workers on a global scale. The government must
step in to bring the activities of big business under control," said
Louise Richards, chief executive of War on Want.
The allegations were rejected by ASDA, which argued that its low
prices were essentially based on high volumes and economies of scale
for an ever-expanding and successful company. "We can sell jeans for
£3, for example, because whereas our competitors buy denim by the
yard, we buy it by the mile. And all our factories are independently
audited by Bureau Veritas and all comply with ethical trading
initiative guidelines," said a company spokesman.
He was unaware of any Chip Away strategy and denied an anti-union or
harsher work regime was being planned. "We are fully supportive of the
GMB and generally have very good staff relations, which puts us in the
top 10 companies in surveys by the Financial Times and Fortune 500."
In relation to the specific points raised by the charity, ASDA said it
was not opposed to the GMB taking disputes to ACAS if it were not
possible to sort it out in other ways. There was no desire to cut
breaks that people were entitled to and it would always follow health
and safety rules when it came to lifting or other activities. "We
would not want to be in contravention of such rules which would open
us up to lawsuits and everything," said the official. He stressed
there could be no plan to remove sick pay at Lutterworth or anywhere
else for the first three days of absence as this was already the
policy. "Our colleagues don't get paid for the first three days but
all supermarkets do this. It's not unique and it's not new."
But the document seen by the Guardian suggests ASDA management at
Lutterworth recognise that removal of payments risks "alienating
colleagues" and could face a "negative sales pitch from the GMB".
War on Want points out that Lee Scott, the Wal-Mart president, earned
$17.5m last year while four of the 10 richest people in the world come
from the Walton family - heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune.
Wal-Mart claims to be a good employer and have good labour relations
with the GMB in Britain as well as unions in Brazil and elsewhere, but
it has a history of conflict over staff relations too. This year the
US retail group paid $135,540 (£77,000) to settle charges of 24 child
labour violations in America. In 2004, an internal audit found 1,370
similar problems and in 2000, it paid $206,650 to resolve a case
involving 1,436 similar charges.
In March this year, the Quebec Labour Relations Board found Wal-Mart
guilty of interfering with the formation of a legal union at an outlet
in the Canadian city.
*
London Guardian
17 October 2005
Poorest Found to be Most at Risk of Being Murdered
By Rosie Cowan
People living in Britain's poorest neighbourhoods are six times more
likely to be murdered than those from the most affluent areas,
according to a report out today. Its authors claim that the
polarisation of a generation caused by mass unemployment in the
recession-hit early 1980s could be to blame.
The Crime and Society Foundation, a justice and social policy
think-tank based at King's College London, examined the 13,140 murders
- an average of almost two a day - committed in England, Scotland and
Wales from January 1981 to December 2000.
The study, titled Criminal Obsessions, found that while the murder
rate has more than doubled from 350 to more than 800 since 1967, the
increase was not spread evenly across social classes. "The rise in
murder in Britain has been concentrated almost exclusively in men of
working age living in the poorest parts of the country," said Danny
Dorling of Sheffield University, who wrote the chapter on the
correlation between murder and poverty.
"The poorer the place you live, the more likely you are to be
murdered. The rate of murder represents the tip of an iceberg of
violence. It can be seen as a marker of social harm. For murder rates
to rise in particular places, and for a particular group of people
living there, life in general has to be made more difficult to live,
people have to be made to feel more worthless. The rate has risen most
for those demographic groups and in those areas, for whom and where
people have become relatively poorer over time."
Contrary to popular belief, gun crime is not the main factor behind
the surge in murder rates in deprived areas. Although the use of
firearms has risen in the poorest wards in the past 20 years, 29% of
murder victims were shot in rich areas as opposed to 11% in the
poorest. Those in poorer areas are more likely to be stabbed with a
knife or broken glass, and in 4% of cases, die in a fight, usually by
being kicked to death.
The vast majority murders were not carefully planned, but were sudden
acts of violence, premeditated for only minutes or seconds, and the
perpetrators were often drunk, Prof Dorling said.
There was also a marked rise in the number of suicides of young men
from these socioeconomic groups, while more than a million had moved
abroad in the 1990s. "These are the same young men who saw many of
their counterparts, brought up in better circumstances and in
different parts of Britain, gain good work, or university education,
or both, and become richer than any similarly sized cohort of such
young ages in British history," said Prof Dorling.
Sixteen-year-olds from poverty-stricken areas would have found it much
harder to get a job in 1981 than any set of school-leavers in the
previous 40 years, he said. "The lives of men born since 1964 have
polarised, and the polarisation, inequality, curtailed opportunities
and hopelessness have bred fear, violence and murder."
*******
LETTERS
Strathclyde University Department of Geography and Sociology bans Coke
and Nestle
At its first meeting of the academic year the Department of Geography
and Sociology at Strathclyde University decided to adopt an ethical
purchase policy with a presumption in favour of fair trade products.
In addition the Department resolved to boycott products made by two of
the worlds most controversial corporations: Coca Cola and Nestle.
The Head of Department, Professor David Miller noted that "Nestle have
repeatedly refused to put their house in order in relation to
marketing baby milk in the developing world, resulting in the needless
deaths of many thousands of babies. Coca Cola continue to refuse to
respond to the issues raised about their involvement in Colombia by
the Colombian Food and Drinks Union SINALTRAINAL. In India, they
continue to ignore the wishes of local communities and operate plants,
which diminish ground water and poison surrounding areas. This
boycott is part of our ethical purchasing policy, but we also hope it
will send a signal that corporations cannot simply ignore their
responsibilities to local communities."
The departmental decision takes place against the background of the
mounting campaign by students in Britain and Ireland to remove Coca
Cola Students Unions. It follows a guest lecture to students in the
Department last year by Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Centre
and Edgar Paez of the International affairs department of SINALTRAINAL
the Colombian food and drinks union.
"I welcome the departmental decision to boycott Coke and Nestle", said
Professor Miller. "I hope that other academic departments will take
similar decisions and that this might contribute towards University
decisions to remove Coca cola from campuses across the UK."
For more information:
Colombia Solidarity Campaign http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/
Killer Coke http://www.killercoke.org/
India Resource Center http://www.indiaresource.org/
Baby Milk Action http://www.babymilkaction.org/
For information on the Department of Geography and Sociology phone
Professor David Miller (w) 0141 548 3794 or (m) 07786 927 551
*******
WHAT’S ON
Maire Ni Seighin from the 'Shell to Sea' campaign (Rossport Five) will
be addressing a public meeting in the Culturlann, Falls Road, Belfast
on Wednesday 19th Oct, 7.30pm. The meeting will be conducted in Irish
and in English and will be chaired by Fergus O'Hare.
Please come along and support Maire and the stand the Rossport Five
have taken for their community.
Maire Ni Seighin is a representative for the Shell to Sea Campaign
which is campaigning on behalf of the Rossport Five, recently
imprisoned because of their stand against Shell Oil's plans to run
pipelines through their community against the wishes of the local people.
*******
New web site to view about North Belfast, go to:
http://radicalnorthbelfast.piczo.com/
*******
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*
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Tuesday 18 October 2005
Friday 7 October 2005
The Plough Vol 03 No 05
The Plough
Volume 3, Number 5
7 October 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) Costello Commemoration Speech
3) INLA Prisoners of War Statement
4) IRSCNA Statement for the Costello Commemoration
5) Press Statement from the IRSP
New website to view about North Belfast:
http://radicalnorthbelfast.piczo.com/
*******
EDITORIAL
This edition of The Plough concentrates exclusively on last Sunday's
Seamus Costello Commemoration in Bray, County Wicklow. The main speech
has caused some controversy and excited some anti-IRSP sentiments from
supporters of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and Republican Sinn
Fein following the decision by Daily Ireland to lead with the call for
a ceasefire on its front page last Wednesday. Rarely if ever does the
IRSP get much coverage and there is no doubt that Daily Ireland choose
to run that story in the way it did was because it was a stick to beat
other republicans with. Their editorial claiming that the INLA was "ON
THE VERGE" of a major announcement was disingenuous. We ask our
readers to read what was actually said and come to their own judgment.
Our position has been clear and consistent for the past seven years
and Eddie McGarrigle's speech merely re-iterated what we have been
saying all along.
As we have pointed out before in The Plough, the IRSP have asked for
private talks with other republican and socialist organisations. Only
one had the courtesy to get back to us and engage in talks. We only
recently provided a public platform for a member of the 32CSM and
re-issued an invitation for private talks. No response has yet been
received from them. We remain open to talk with all groups who claim
the mantle of republicanism.
*******
COSTELLO COMMEMORATION SPEECH
Comrades, today we commemorate a great man whose politics are as
relevant today as they were thirty years ago. The people of Bray
remember the agitator, the husband, the friend, the revolutionary,
they remember well his vision and radical socialism, never have they
seen again such a soldier of the working class.
Twenty-five years ago someone gave me the commemoration book detailing
Seamus's life and politics. It was a glowing testament to his vision
and to his love for the working class. Whenever I read that little
book its clear to me that this vision and love were the very heart of
republican socialism.
Despite the passing of the years and the changes within society when
you scratch the surface, nothing of substance has changed. The rich
become richer whilst the poor struggle for a decent living. We still
face the same situation on this island today. Business interests
masquerading as political leadership administer rule in Ireland, they
have their own interests, and their aim is profit. Meanwhile, health
and education, decent housing, employment all fall by the wayside in
the selfish pursuit of profit.
The Rossport 5 are high profile victims of the Free State government's
decision to sell off the economic sovereignty of their friends in
multinational companies. We support the Rossport 5, not because it's
the latest sexy fad which has caught the public imagination, we
support them because at the heart of their case is the capitalist
greedy profit making agenda. The supporters of the 5 are to be
welcomed but I will say this: Castlerea Prison isn't too far from
Rossport and if you're looking to find a long term case of injustice,
a case which is so cruel in its nature, you will find it there. It may
not be sexy for the respectable folk but if you really are against
injustice help free Dessie O'Hare.
Our island remains partitioned, the GFA is a cul de sac which will
strengthen that partition, the six county state is irreformable, it is
a stinking hell hole of sectarianism and it must be smashed. The Good
Friday Agreement republicans accepted partition when they signed the
GFA. The organisation of the rally in Dublin was pure theatre: another
sneaky way of rallying the troops whilst the cement was being poured
over the arms dumps. We recognise that the agreement in 1998 signalled
the end of the present phase in the dispute between Britain and
Ireland over the issue of sovereignty. It was and is a moment of
historic importance, but republican socialists have argued and
continue to argue that it is not a lasting settlement. It was a
political compromise. In signing it, the GFA republicans were working
based on a pan-nationalist consensus that had underpinned their whole
peace process.
The Dublin government, the SDLP and the Irish American lobbies were
all seen as power points to be directed against the British government
in order to convince them to become persuaders of Irish unity. That is
what our struggle was traded for and if you lay down with dogs you get
up with fleas. The GFA republicans changed their view of the conflict
following their tactical alliances with the great and the good. They
began to manage the conflict and in doing so they began to reinterpret
their republican principles and goals. That in itself was a victory
for the British government. Did these people never stop and think that
their new friends ever had their own agenda, did they allow their ego
and their belief that they were the elite cloud their vision? They
certainly did.
Seamus and all republicans from the past who are honoured by present
day republicans had all one thing in common: their republicanism was
based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Sadly
that position has been undermined by what is known as the peace
process. It has been argued and the IRSP agree with this point that
the republicans who signed up to the GFA have now a position which is
ethnically centered. In essence this accepts that the conflict in the
North is as a result of a clash between two hostile and exclusive
ethnic identities. The benefit of this analysis is that colonialism
slips off the map, Britain gets off the hook and the struggle in which
we took part in has been diminished. Instead of the question of
imperialism and capitalism being the central issue of discourse we now
have celebrations of differences. This multicultural approach in the
North of Ireland in essence means that there are two distinctly
recognised traditions, which should be seen as equally valid and
legitimate.
It also removes the Southern establishment from any concerns about
solving the national question. In the new GFA dispensation you will
hardly hear the words like national question, anti-imperialism and
self determination, nowadays the great and the good have given us new
buzzwords such as parity of esteem and a Europe for the regions,
balderdash. All of this distracts from the real issues such as who has
power and why does oppression continue. Now that the marching season
is nearly over could I be so cheeky to state the truth, the Orange
Order institution is Ireland's Ku Klux Klan and need to be challenged.
This is what this whole process is about, it was underpinned by the
belief that the conflict was ethnic and so the end result the GFA
institutionalised polarised communally based politics. That is not the
way forward for the working class. The way forward lies within the
teachings of men like Seamus Costello and within the politics of the IRSP.
At this point I want to pay tribute to the republican socialist
community. For 25 years and more we have withstood the "undermine and
absorb" policy of the very same people who now chase after British
Secretaries of State begging for office space in Westminster, the
people who used black propaganda to try and destroy this movement, the
same people who tried to break our prisoners and our families, these
same people are now prepared to accept a unionist veto, they are
prepared and eager to administer British rule in Ireland. Shame on the
lot of you.
My message is the same today as it's always been, we are proud to be
Irps -- our class analysis cannot be bartered for respectability, our
politics cannot be crushed and we cannot be bought, even for 26
million pounds.
Bernadette McAliskey, a close friend and comrade of Seamus, once said,
"the war is over and the good guys lost". Since those words were
spoken we have spent a long time analysing and debating the way ahead.
We have spent enough time being distracted by our anger, it is time to
think with our heads and not with our hearts.
All anti-GFA republicans need to take a step back and engage with each
other, those not on cease-fire need to call a cessation to their
campaigns. Put simply it is not working, there is no support within
the working class community for armed struggle. Within the North,
British intelligence are playing republican volunteers like pawns in a
Kitsonian game of chess. We need to consult the prisoners and we need
a united voice, we the honourable republicans undefeated, and we need
to engage with each other. It is for purely tactical reasons that I
make this public call for cessation of military activity. Leadership
needs to be shown, retain the dignity of the republican struggle.
Victory to the soldiers of INLA!
[The above speech by Eddie McGarrigle was delivered on his behalf by
another member of the IRSP Ard-Chomhairle, Tomas Gorman, due to
Eddie's illness on the day.]
*******
INLA PRISONERS OF WAR STATEMENT
Comrades,
We gather here today to remember with pride our comrade and former
leader and co-founder, Seamus Costello. It's been 28 years since
Seamus was murdered by reactionary forces opposed to the creation of a
32 County Socialist Irish Republic.
Whether it was on local community issues on Wicklow County Council or
the broader socialist and anti-imperialist issues, his dedication,
diligence and perseverance served as an inspiration to all who knew
him.
Comrades, as we enter this new phase of the social struggle, it is
that very same diligence, perseverance and dedication that is required
by each and every one of us, to ensure that the ideals and principals
that he espoused so dearly are delivered in a clear and transparent
manner to both today's and tomorrow's generation.
Issues such as poverty, housing, health, education, employment and
social issues coupled with the scourge of narcotics have decimated the
very fabric of our society leaving the working class feeling more and
more isolated and alone. There are many enemies of the working class.
We cannot stand by and watch as drug barons, criminals and fat cat
capitalists, often assisted by state sponsored forces, tear away at
the very fabric of our society.
In the present day, the IRSM faces many challenges, we in the Irish
Republican Socialist Movement must be visible, audible and sincere in
our efforts to address these and the vast array of issues that scourge
our communities.
Our voice must be audible when it comes to, highlighting the scourge
of drugs within our society, highlighting the ever increasing number
of people who live on our streets, highlighting state corruption at
every level, from civil servant, planners to Gardai and those corrupt
politicians who govern us.
The Celtic Tiger never failed, "for everyone within working class
communities, it never existed", daily struggle to get by just got
harder as everyday goods and services become more expensive. However,
we can state that the GFA has failed. Sectarianism is rife, daily
attacks occur on working class nationalist areas, in particular
Ballymena and North Belfast, fed by entrenched loyalist hatred and
governments who don't seem to care.
Dessie O'Hare is still in jail, even though he is a qualifying
prisoner under the GFA. Both governments bend the rules and shift the
goalposts when they see fit. Other republicans, such as Strabane
republican John Brady, are incarcerated, many on the sole word of the
PSNI or Gardai, both proven corrupt police forces.
We must not be deterred by the capitalist endorsed decimation of our
working class communities.
Comrades, onwards with the revolution.
Cathal Gartland, on behalf of Republican Socialist POWs, Portlaoise,
Castlerea and Maghaberry.
*******
IRSCNA STATEMENT FOR THE COSTELLO COMMEMORATION
The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America sends its
greetings and solidarity to all those gathered today at the grave of
Seamus Costello, the founder of the Irish Republican Socialist
Movement. As part of that movement, we recognise the enormous legacy
that he left to all of us.
Seamus Costello was one of the greatest leaders of political struggle
to ever emerge in Ireland. His greatness lay in his ability to
"inspire not only the dream but the confidence of its achievement, and
the commitment to work towards that end," as Bernadette Devlin
McAliskey described it. From his earliest days as an activist, his
talent for leading and inspiring others was apparent. He was only
seventeen years old when his leadership of an Irish Republican Army
unit earned him the nickname of "The Boy General."
Seamus Costello, like James Connolly before him, stood for the unity
of the national liberation struggle and the class struggle. Neither
man could conceive of an Ireland liberated from British imperialism
truly being free without it also being liberated from the shackles of
capitalism which kept the Irish working class in the condition of wage
slaves for domestic and foreign capital. Not for them was a capitalist
republic. Connolly's daughter Nora spoke at Costello's funeral and
described him as "the greatest follower of my father's teachings in
this generation."
When he founded the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Irish
National Liberation Army on 8 December 1974, it was because he saw no
other vehicles capable of leading the struggle for national and class
liberation. The Official Republican Movement had become mired in
reformism, while the Provisional Republican Movement at the time were
largely right-wing militarists.
Costello tried to work within the ORM, but his efforts were blocked by
its leadership and he was finally forced out. It was then that he
brought together republican socialists (many of whom were also
ex-Officials) and trade unionists to form the Irish Republican
Socialist Movement.
The IRSM was quickly baptised in blood by the Official IRA. Three
members of the IRSM would be killed before a truce was reached, but
that didn't stop the OIRA from assassinating Costello on 5 October
1977. The Officials were an example of just how wrong former
revolutionaries could go when they went down a path of reformism. An
Official IRA gunman may have pulled the trigger, but the gun was
loaded by British imperialism and its lackey of Irish capitalism --
all of whom feared Costello and what he represented.
The death of Seamus Costello was not only a loss to the IRSM, it was a
loss to the Irish working class and the struggle as a whole, just as
Connolly's death was in 1916. However, for all that was lost without
his leadership, his powerful legacy remains an inspiration for anyone
who claims the label of republican socialist.
Seamus Costello was no dilettante or armchair supporter of the
struggle. From the age of sixteen until his death at thirty-eight,
nearly every moment of his life was spent in political or military
struggle, fighting on behalf of the Irish working class. While
interned in a prison camp, he spent his time studying and used his
new-found knowledge to organise lectures to educate his fellow
prisoners. As an elected councillor, he used his position to involve
the working class directly in council business and inspired them to
take the task of liberation into their own hands. His only allegiance
was to the working class.
If we truly wish to honour the memory of Seamus Costello, first
chairperson of the IRSP and first chief of staff of the INLA, then we
must follow his example and devote ourselves fully to building the
only fitting memorial to Connolly, Costello, and all the men and women
who devoted their lives, and sometimes sacrificed them, to the
struggle -- namely a thirty-two county socialist republic on the
island of Ireland. There can be no better memorial and Seamus no
doubt would have agreed.
Only the Irish working class can build a better tomorrow for itself
and in doing so provide an example for the working class
internationally, to inspire it to wake from its slumber induced by
capitalist ideology, break its chains, and establish a new world order
where people come before profit. Our task is to follow in the
footsteps of Costello and continue to build the IRSP into a serious
revolutionary party armed with the correct ideology to see the
struggle through to a successful end. As Costello continues to
inspire us, so must we inspire our fellow workers. Liberation is in
our hands as a class. That is the enduring legacy of Seamus Costello.
Onward to the socialist republic, comrades!
*******
PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE IRSP
Issued on Thursday 6th October.
In response to speculation in the media about the intentions of the
Republican Socialist Movement following the oration at the annual
Seamus Costello commemoration in Bray a few points need to be made.
The position outlined in Sunday's oration has been held by the IRSP
since 1998. We refer to the opening paragraph of the INLA's ceasefire
statement issued on 22/8/98:
"We have accepted the advice and analysis of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party that the conditions for armed struggle do not exist.
The Irish National Liberation Army has now shifted from the position
of defence and retaliation to the position of complete cease-fire. We
have instructed all our units to desist from offensive action from
noon today."
The Ard-Chomhairle of the IRSP stated on the same day:
"In the present changed political climate in Ireland, the INLA has
also shown that it possesses both the leadership and vision necessary
to provide the momentum required to continue the pursuance of that aim
by peaceful methods."
On the position of armed struggle we have also been quite clear for
many years. At the Seamus Costello commemoration in 2003 the IRSP
asserted:
"Today the IRSP has to face into the struggle for a socialist republic
based on democratic principles, equipped with the integrity of
republican socialist politics. This alongside our determination to
achieve Irish freedom, full social equality for all, and self
government are the arms required for today's struggle. The political
conditions not only in Ireland but also internationally in 2003 demand
that our response is measured and tailored to achieve victory, not
wallowing in a self-righteous indignation, engaged in a fruitless
armed campaign that our enemies long ago learned how to minimise and
negate."
It needs to be restated that the decision on whether or not the INLA
decommissions lies solely with that movement and that decision should
only be taken with reference to the actual position on the ground for
working class communities who presently find themselves living under
threat of violence and forced evictions. It will not be taken on a
request from the nationalist, pro-Good Friday Agreement republicans.
The Republican Socialist Movement is clear on its position in relation
to the GFA. That agreement represented a defeat for the Irish
republican struggle. But as we said at the recent anti-internment
demonstration in Ballymena:
"The Republican Socialist Movement accepts the need for changed
tactics in a rapidly changing world. But changed tactics don't mean
changed principles. We stand by the Republic of James Connolly and
Liam Mellows."
Only when the Irish working class achieves full economic and political
freedom will we say that the struggle is over.
*******
Back copies of The Plough can be accessed at:
http://www.irsm.org/irsp/plough/.
Please feel free to comment on the contents of The Plough. We welcome
political comments and criticisms.
If you would prefer to receive The Plough as an attachment please
e-mail with heading "add attachment".
If you know of anybody who might wish to receive The Plough please
send his or her e-mail address to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
If you wish to receive back copies of the The Plough please e-mail
to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
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Volume 3, Number 5
7 October 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) Costello Commemoration Speech
3) INLA Prisoners of War Statement
4) IRSCNA Statement for the Costello Commemoration
5) Press Statement from the IRSP
New website to view about North Belfast:
http://radicalnorthbelfast.piczo.com/
*******
EDITORIAL
This edition of The Plough concentrates exclusively on last Sunday's
Seamus Costello Commemoration in Bray, County Wicklow. The main speech
has caused some controversy and excited some anti-IRSP sentiments from
supporters of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and Republican Sinn
Fein following the decision by Daily Ireland to lead with the call for
a ceasefire on its front page last Wednesday. Rarely if ever does the
IRSP get much coverage and there is no doubt that Daily Ireland choose
to run that story in the way it did was because it was a stick to beat
other republicans with. Their editorial claiming that the INLA was "ON
THE VERGE" of a major announcement was disingenuous. We ask our
readers to read what was actually said and come to their own judgment.
Our position has been clear and consistent for the past seven years
and Eddie McGarrigle's speech merely re-iterated what we have been
saying all along.
As we have pointed out before in The Plough, the IRSP have asked for
private talks with other republican and socialist organisations. Only
one had the courtesy to get back to us and engage in talks. We only
recently provided a public platform for a member of the 32CSM and
re-issued an invitation for private talks. No response has yet been
received from them. We remain open to talk with all groups who claim
the mantle of republicanism.
*******
COSTELLO COMMEMORATION SPEECH
Comrades, today we commemorate a great man whose politics are as
relevant today as they were thirty years ago. The people of Bray
remember the agitator, the husband, the friend, the revolutionary,
they remember well his vision and radical socialism, never have they
seen again such a soldier of the working class.
Twenty-five years ago someone gave me the commemoration book detailing
Seamus's life and politics. It was a glowing testament to his vision
and to his love for the working class. Whenever I read that little
book its clear to me that this vision and love were the very heart of
republican socialism.
Despite the passing of the years and the changes within society when
you scratch the surface, nothing of substance has changed. The rich
become richer whilst the poor struggle for a decent living. We still
face the same situation on this island today. Business interests
masquerading as political leadership administer rule in Ireland, they
have their own interests, and their aim is profit. Meanwhile, health
and education, decent housing, employment all fall by the wayside in
the selfish pursuit of profit.
The Rossport 5 are high profile victims of the Free State government's
decision to sell off the economic sovereignty of their friends in
multinational companies. We support the Rossport 5, not because it's
the latest sexy fad which has caught the public imagination, we
support them because at the heart of their case is the capitalist
greedy profit making agenda. The supporters of the 5 are to be
welcomed but I will say this: Castlerea Prison isn't too far from
Rossport and if you're looking to find a long term case of injustice,
a case which is so cruel in its nature, you will find it there. It may
not be sexy for the respectable folk but if you really are against
injustice help free Dessie O'Hare.
Our island remains partitioned, the GFA is a cul de sac which will
strengthen that partition, the six county state is irreformable, it is
a stinking hell hole of sectarianism and it must be smashed. The Good
Friday Agreement republicans accepted partition when they signed the
GFA. The organisation of the rally in Dublin was pure theatre: another
sneaky way of rallying the troops whilst the cement was being poured
over the arms dumps. We recognise that the agreement in 1998 signalled
the end of the present phase in the dispute between Britain and
Ireland over the issue of sovereignty. It was and is a moment of
historic importance, but republican socialists have argued and
continue to argue that it is not a lasting settlement. It was a
political compromise. In signing it, the GFA republicans were working
based on a pan-nationalist consensus that had underpinned their whole
peace process.
The Dublin government, the SDLP and the Irish American lobbies were
all seen as power points to be directed against the British government
in order to convince them to become persuaders of Irish unity. That is
what our struggle was traded for and if you lay down with dogs you get
up with fleas. The GFA republicans changed their view of the conflict
following their tactical alliances with the great and the good. They
began to manage the conflict and in doing so they began to reinterpret
their republican principles and goals. That in itself was a victory
for the British government. Did these people never stop and think that
their new friends ever had their own agenda, did they allow their ego
and their belief that they were the elite cloud their vision? They
certainly did.
Seamus and all republicans from the past who are honoured by present
day republicans had all one thing in common: their republicanism was
based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Sadly
that position has been undermined by what is known as the peace
process. It has been argued and the IRSP agree with this point that
the republicans who signed up to the GFA have now a position which is
ethnically centered. In essence this accepts that the conflict in the
North is as a result of a clash between two hostile and exclusive
ethnic identities. The benefit of this analysis is that colonialism
slips off the map, Britain gets off the hook and the struggle in which
we took part in has been diminished. Instead of the question of
imperialism and capitalism being the central issue of discourse we now
have celebrations of differences. This multicultural approach in the
North of Ireland in essence means that there are two distinctly
recognised traditions, which should be seen as equally valid and
legitimate.
It also removes the Southern establishment from any concerns about
solving the national question. In the new GFA dispensation you will
hardly hear the words like national question, anti-imperialism and
self determination, nowadays the great and the good have given us new
buzzwords such as parity of esteem and a Europe for the regions,
balderdash. All of this distracts from the real issues such as who has
power and why does oppression continue. Now that the marching season
is nearly over could I be so cheeky to state the truth, the Orange
Order institution is Ireland's Ku Klux Klan and need to be challenged.
This is what this whole process is about, it was underpinned by the
belief that the conflict was ethnic and so the end result the GFA
institutionalised polarised communally based politics. That is not the
way forward for the working class. The way forward lies within the
teachings of men like Seamus Costello and within the politics of the IRSP.
At this point I want to pay tribute to the republican socialist
community. For 25 years and more we have withstood the "undermine and
absorb" policy of the very same people who now chase after British
Secretaries of State begging for office space in Westminster, the
people who used black propaganda to try and destroy this movement, the
same people who tried to break our prisoners and our families, these
same people are now prepared to accept a unionist veto, they are
prepared and eager to administer British rule in Ireland. Shame on the
lot of you.
My message is the same today as it's always been, we are proud to be
Irps -- our class analysis cannot be bartered for respectability, our
politics cannot be crushed and we cannot be bought, even for 26
million pounds.
Bernadette McAliskey, a close friend and comrade of Seamus, once said,
"the war is over and the good guys lost". Since those words were
spoken we have spent a long time analysing and debating the way ahead.
We have spent enough time being distracted by our anger, it is time to
think with our heads and not with our hearts.
All anti-GFA republicans need to take a step back and engage with each
other, those not on cease-fire need to call a cessation to their
campaigns. Put simply it is not working, there is no support within
the working class community for armed struggle. Within the North,
British intelligence are playing republican volunteers like pawns in a
Kitsonian game of chess. We need to consult the prisoners and we need
a united voice, we the honourable republicans undefeated, and we need
to engage with each other. It is for purely tactical reasons that I
make this public call for cessation of military activity. Leadership
needs to be shown, retain the dignity of the republican struggle.
Victory to the soldiers of INLA!
[The above speech by Eddie McGarrigle was delivered on his behalf by
another member of the IRSP Ard-Chomhairle, Tomas Gorman, due to
Eddie's illness on the day.]
*******
INLA PRISONERS OF WAR STATEMENT
Comrades,
We gather here today to remember with pride our comrade and former
leader and co-founder, Seamus Costello. It's been 28 years since
Seamus was murdered by reactionary forces opposed to the creation of a
32 County Socialist Irish Republic.
Whether it was on local community issues on Wicklow County Council or
the broader socialist and anti-imperialist issues, his dedication,
diligence and perseverance served as an inspiration to all who knew
him.
Comrades, as we enter this new phase of the social struggle, it is
that very same diligence, perseverance and dedication that is required
by each and every one of us, to ensure that the ideals and principals
that he espoused so dearly are delivered in a clear and transparent
manner to both today's and tomorrow's generation.
Issues such as poverty, housing, health, education, employment and
social issues coupled with the scourge of narcotics have decimated the
very fabric of our society leaving the working class feeling more and
more isolated and alone. There are many enemies of the working class.
We cannot stand by and watch as drug barons, criminals and fat cat
capitalists, often assisted by state sponsored forces, tear away at
the very fabric of our society.
In the present day, the IRSM faces many challenges, we in the Irish
Republican Socialist Movement must be visible, audible and sincere in
our efforts to address these and the vast array of issues that scourge
our communities.
Our voice must be audible when it comes to, highlighting the scourge
of drugs within our society, highlighting the ever increasing number
of people who live on our streets, highlighting state corruption at
every level, from civil servant, planners to Gardai and those corrupt
politicians who govern us.
The Celtic Tiger never failed, "for everyone within working class
communities, it never existed", daily struggle to get by just got
harder as everyday goods and services become more expensive. However,
we can state that the GFA has failed. Sectarianism is rife, daily
attacks occur on working class nationalist areas, in particular
Ballymena and North Belfast, fed by entrenched loyalist hatred and
governments who don't seem to care.
Dessie O'Hare is still in jail, even though he is a qualifying
prisoner under the GFA. Both governments bend the rules and shift the
goalposts when they see fit. Other republicans, such as Strabane
republican John Brady, are incarcerated, many on the sole word of the
PSNI or Gardai, both proven corrupt police forces.
We must not be deterred by the capitalist endorsed decimation of our
working class communities.
Comrades, onwards with the revolution.
Cathal Gartland, on behalf of Republican Socialist POWs, Portlaoise,
Castlerea and Maghaberry.
*******
IRSCNA STATEMENT FOR THE COSTELLO COMMEMORATION
The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America sends its
greetings and solidarity to all those gathered today at the grave of
Seamus Costello, the founder of the Irish Republican Socialist
Movement. As part of that movement, we recognise the enormous legacy
that he left to all of us.
Seamus Costello was one of the greatest leaders of political struggle
to ever emerge in Ireland. His greatness lay in his ability to
"inspire not only the dream but the confidence of its achievement, and
the commitment to work towards that end," as Bernadette Devlin
McAliskey described it. From his earliest days as an activist, his
talent for leading and inspiring others was apparent. He was only
seventeen years old when his leadership of an Irish Republican Army
unit earned him the nickname of "The Boy General."
Seamus Costello, like James Connolly before him, stood for the unity
of the national liberation struggle and the class struggle. Neither
man could conceive of an Ireland liberated from British imperialism
truly being free without it also being liberated from the shackles of
capitalism which kept the Irish working class in the condition of wage
slaves for domestic and foreign capital. Not for them was a capitalist
republic. Connolly's daughter Nora spoke at Costello's funeral and
described him as "the greatest follower of my father's teachings in
this generation."
When he founded the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Irish
National Liberation Army on 8 December 1974, it was because he saw no
other vehicles capable of leading the struggle for national and class
liberation. The Official Republican Movement had become mired in
reformism, while the Provisional Republican Movement at the time were
largely right-wing militarists.
Costello tried to work within the ORM, but his efforts were blocked by
its leadership and he was finally forced out. It was then that he
brought together republican socialists (many of whom were also
ex-Officials) and trade unionists to form the Irish Republican
Socialist Movement.
The IRSM was quickly baptised in blood by the Official IRA. Three
members of the IRSM would be killed before a truce was reached, but
that didn't stop the OIRA from assassinating Costello on 5 October
1977. The Officials were an example of just how wrong former
revolutionaries could go when they went down a path of reformism. An
Official IRA gunman may have pulled the trigger, but the gun was
loaded by British imperialism and its lackey of Irish capitalism --
all of whom feared Costello and what he represented.
The death of Seamus Costello was not only a loss to the IRSM, it was a
loss to the Irish working class and the struggle as a whole, just as
Connolly's death was in 1916. However, for all that was lost without
his leadership, his powerful legacy remains an inspiration for anyone
who claims the label of republican socialist.
Seamus Costello was no dilettante or armchair supporter of the
struggle. From the age of sixteen until his death at thirty-eight,
nearly every moment of his life was spent in political or military
struggle, fighting on behalf of the Irish working class. While
interned in a prison camp, he spent his time studying and used his
new-found knowledge to organise lectures to educate his fellow
prisoners. As an elected councillor, he used his position to involve
the working class directly in council business and inspired them to
take the task of liberation into their own hands. His only allegiance
was to the working class.
If we truly wish to honour the memory of Seamus Costello, first
chairperson of the IRSP and first chief of staff of the INLA, then we
must follow his example and devote ourselves fully to building the
only fitting memorial to Connolly, Costello, and all the men and women
who devoted their lives, and sometimes sacrificed them, to the
struggle -- namely a thirty-two county socialist republic on the
island of Ireland. There can be no better memorial and Seamus no
doubt would have agreed.
Only the Irish working class can build a better tomorrow for itself
and in doing so provide an example for the working class
internationally, to inspire it to wake from its slumber induced by
capitalist ideology, break its chains, and establish a new world order
where people come before profit. Our task is to follow in the
footsteps of Costello and continue to build the IRSP into a serious
revolutionary party armed with the correct ideology to see the
struggle through to a successful end. As Costello continues to
inspire us, so must we inspire our fellow workers. Liberation is in
our hands as a class. That is the enduring legacy of Seamus Costello.
Onward to the socialist republic, comrades!
*******
PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE IRSP
Issued on Thursday 6th October.
In response to speculation in the media about the intentions of the
Republican Socialist Movement following the oration at the annual
Seamus Costello commemoration in Bray a few points need to be made.
The position outlined in Sunday's oration has been held by the IRSP
since 1998. We refer to the opening paragraph of the INLA's ceasefire
statement issued on 22/8/98:
"We have accepted the advice and analysis of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party that the conditions for armed struggle do not exist.
The Irish National Liberation Army has now shifted from the position
of defence and retaliation to the position of complete cease-fire. We
have instructed all our units to desist from offensive action from
noon today."
The Ard-Chomhairle of the IRSP stated on the same day:
"In the present changed political climate in Ireland, the INLA has
also shown that it possesses both the leadership and vision necessary
to provide the momentum required to continue the pursuance of that aim
by peaceful methods."
On the position of armed struggle we have also been quite clear for
many years. At the Seamus Costello commemoration in 2003 the IRSP
asserted:
"Today the IRSP has to face into the struggle for a socialist republic
based on democratic principles, equipped with the integrity of
republican socialist politics. This alongside our determination to
achieve Irish freedom, full social equality for all, and self
government are the arms required for today's struggle. The political
conditions not only in Ireland but also internationally in 2003 demand
that our response is measured and tailored to achieve victory, not
wallowing in a self-righteous indignation, engaged in a fruitless
armed campaign that our enemies long ago learned how to minimise and
negate."
It needs to be restated that the decision on whether or not the INLA
decommissions lies solely with that movement and that decision should
only be taken with reference to the actual position on the ground for
working class communities who presently find themselves living under
threat of violence and forced evictions. It will not be taken on a
request from the nationalist, pro-Good Friday Agreement republicans.
The Republican Socialist Movement is clear on its position in relation
to the GFA. That agreement represented a defeat for the Irish
republican struggle. But as we said at the recent anti-internment
demonstration in Ballymena:
"The Republican Socialist Movement accepts the need for changed
tactics in a rapidly changing world. But changed tactics don't mean
changed principles. We stand by the Republic of James Connolly and
Liam Mellows."
Only when the Irish working class achieves full economic and political
freedom will we say that the struggle is over.
*******
Back copies of The Plough can be accessed at:
http://www.irsm.org/irsp/plough/.
Please feel free to comment on the contents of The Plough. We welcome
political comments and criticisms.
If you would prefer to receive The Plough as an attachment please
e-mail with heading "add attachment".
If you know of anybody who might wish to receive The Plough please
send his or her e-mail address to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
If you wish to receive back copies of the The Plough please e-mail
to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
The sum of:
Amount in words:
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Tuesday 4 October 2005
The Plough Vol 03 No 04
The Plough
Volume 3, Number 4
4 October 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Capitalism and Socialism
*******
CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM
By Liam O'Ruairc
Every year since 1990, the United Nations publishes its Human
Development Report. It contains the most authoritative data on the
state of the world. These reports are available online:
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/view_reports.cfm?type=1. Based on those
reports (referred to by year, followed by page), what does our world
look like?
CAPITALISM
We live in a capitalist world. Capitalism is a very dynamic system
that produces a tremendous amount of wealth. Never has the world been
so rich.
Global output increased more than eleven fold between 1850 and 1960,
from $611 billion to $6,936 billion in 1993 dollars. The world's
population more than doubled during the same period, rising from 1.2
billion in 1850 to 3 billion in 1960. The net outcome: nearly a
fivefold increase in per capita income. During the same period, the
goods and services produced in the industrial countries expanded
nearly thirty fold, from $212 billion to $6,103 billion (1996, 12)
Between 1960 and 1993, global income increased from $4 trillion to $23
trillion, and per capita income more than tripled. (1996, 12) If
trends continue, it should grow form 23 trillion in 1993 to 56
trillion in 2030. (1996, 36)
Global GDP increased nine folds from $3 trillion to $30 trillion over
the past 50 years. (1999, 25)
It has allowed a huge development of consumerism. Private and public
consumption expenditure reached $24 trillion in 1998, twice the level
of 1975 and six times that of 1950. In 1900, real consumption
expenditure was barely $1.5 trillion. (1998, 1)
INEQUALITY
But capitalism has made the world a very unequal place.
The people living in the 20% richest countries in the world have 86%
of global GDP (global income), 82% of world export markets, 68% of
Foreign Direct Investment. (1999, 3)
The richest 1% of the world received as much income as the poorest
57%. The richest 10% of the US population (around 25 million people)
have a combined income greater than that of the poorest 43% of the
world population (around 2 billion people). (2001, 19; 2003, 39)
The poorest 40% of the world's population account for 5% of global
income, the richest 10% account for 54%.(2005, 4)
The 20% of the world's people in the high income countries account for
86% of total private consumption expenditure. The poorest 20% for a
mere 1.3%.
The richest fifth consume 45% of all meat and fish, 58% of total
energy, 65% of electricity, 84% of all paper, have 74% of phone lines
and own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet. The poorest fifth
consumes
5%, less than 4%, 1.1%, 1.5%, and less than 1% of all this. (1998, 2)
The poorest 20% of the world's people saw their share of the global
income decline from 2.3% to 1.4% in the past 30 years, meanwhile the
share of the richest 20% rose from 70% to 85%. (1996, 2)
Capitalism not only creates inequality, but it increases it both
between and within countries. The income gap between the richest
countries and the poorest countries was a ratio of 1:3 in 1820. This
increased to 1:7 in 1870 and 1:11 in 1913. In 1960 it was 1:30 and in
1990 1:60. In 1997 it was 1:74. (1999, 3)
Measured at the extremes, the gap between the average citizen in the
richest and in the poorest countries is wide and getting wider. In
1990 the average American was 38 times richer than the average
Tanzanian. Today the average American is 61 times richer. (2005, 37)
A Zambian today has less chance of reaching thirty years of age than
someone born in England in 1840. (2005, 4, 26)
GROWING INEQUALITY
A study of 77 countries with 82% of the world's population shows that
between the 1950s and the 1990s, inequality rose in 45 of those
countries and fell in 16 countries. (2001, 17)
Inequality within countries has been increasing over the last 30
years. Among the 73 countries with data (and 80% of the world's
people), 48 have seen inequality increase since the 1950s, 16 have
experienced no change, and only 9 (with 4% of the world's people) have
seen inequality fall. (2002, 20)
Between the 1980s and the late 1990s inequality increased in 42 of 73
countries with complete and comparable data. Only 6 of the 33
development countries saw inequality decline, while 17 saw an
increase. "In other words, within national boundaries, control over
assets and resources is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a
few people." (2003, 39)
Inequality is on the increase in countries which account for 80% of
the world's population. (2005, 6)
Between 1979 and 1997, US real GDP per capita grew 38%, but the income
of a family with median earnings grew only 9%. So most of the gain was
captured by the very richest people, with the incomes of the richest
1% of families growing 140%, three times the average. The income of
the top 1% of families was 10 times that of the median family in 1979
and 23 times in 1997. (2002, 20)
INFANTANT MORTALITY
The USA has the same infant mortality rate as Malaysia, a country with
an average income one quarter that of the USA. And the Indian state of
Kerala has an infant death rate lower than that for African Americans
in Washington DC. (2005, 58)
DISPOSABLE INCOME
At the end of the 1970s, the richest 10% of the UK population received
21% of total disposable income. Twenty years later, it received 28%,
nearly was much as for the entire bottom half of the population.
Average annual incomes for the richest 20% increased at about ten
times the rate for the poorest 20%. (3.8% compared with 0.4%) The UK's
GINI coefficient climbed from 25 to 35 by the mid-1990s, one of the
biggest increases in inequality in the world. (2005, 68)
A FAILING SYSTEM
As a system, capitalism does not work for the vast majority of the
world's population; it fails to provide for their basic needs.
Of the 4.4 billion people in developing countries, nearly three fifth
lack basic sanitation. A third have no access to clean water. A
quarter do not have adequate housing. A fifth no access to health
services. (1998, 2)
More than one billion people lack access to safe water. (2005, 24)
More than 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation. (2005, 24)
More than 850 million people, including one in three preschool
children suffer from malnutrition. (2005, 24)
$1 A DAY
One in five people in the world, more than one billion, still survive
on less than $1 a day in abject poverty. (2005, 24) "Living on $1 a
day does not mean being able to afford what $1 would buy when
converted into a local currency, but the equivalent of what $1 would
buy in the United States, a newspaper, a local bus ride, a bag of
rice." (2003, 41)
Another 1.5 billion people live on $1-2 a day. (2005, 24) "One fifth
of humanity lives in countries where many people think nothing of
spending $2 a day on capuccino. Another fifth of humanity survives on
less than $1 a day and live in countries where children die for want
of a simple anti-mosquito bed net." (2005, 3)
ILLITERACY
There are 854 million illiterate adults, 543 million of them women,
325 million children (one in seven) out of school at primary and
secondary levels, 183 million of them girls. (2001, 9) More than one
billion people live without adequate shelter, sanitation, electricity,
and there are 100 million people homeless sleeping in the street.
(1996,24)
THE WEALTHY
But capitalism allows a tiny minority to accumulate a vast amount of
wealth.
The 350 largest companies in the world account for 40% of global trade
and their turnover exceeds the GDP of many countries.
The turnover of General Motors ($168.8 billion) exceeds that of the
GDP of Denmark ($146.1 billion).
The turnover of Ford ($137.1 billion) exceeds the GDP of South Africa
($123.3 billion).
The turnover of Toyota ($111.1 billion), Exxon ($110 billion) and
Royal Dutch/Shell ($109.8 billion) exceeds the GDP of Norway, Poland
and Portugal ($109.6, $92.8, and $91.6 billion respectively).
The turnover of IBM ($72 billion) is greater than that of Malaysia
($68.5 billion). The combined assets of the top five corporations
($871.4 billion) is greater than that of the combined GDP of South
Asia ($451.3 billion), Sub-Saharan Africa ($246.8 billion) and least
developed countries ($76.5 billion). (1997, 92)
BILLIONAIRES
Between 1989 and 1996 the number of billionaires increased from 157 to
447. Today the net wealth of the ten richest billionaires is $133
billion, more than 1.5 times the total national income of all the
least developed countries. (1997, 38)
The world's 200 richest people more than doubled their net worth in
the four years to 1998, to more than $1 trillion. The assts of the top
three billionaires are more than the combined GNP of all least
developed countries and their 600 million people. (1999, 3)
The world's 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1
trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world
($2.5 billion). It is estimated that the cost of achieving and
maintaining universal access to education for all, health care for
all, reproductive health care for all women, adequate food for all and
safe water and sanitation for all is roughly $40 billion a year (0.1%
of world income). This is less than 4% of the combined wealth of the
225 richest people in the world. (1998, 30)
MATERIAL RESOURCES
The material resources to end poverty and inequality are there.
To provide universal access to basic social services and transfers to
alleviate income poverty with efficient targeting would cost roughly
$80 billion. That is less than 0.5% of global income and less than the
combined net worth of the seven richest men in the world. (1997, 112)
Redistributing 1.6% of the income of the richest 10 percent of the
global population would provide the $300 billion needed to lift the
one billion people living on less than a dollar a day out of extreme
poverty. (2005, 4)
COMPARATIVES EXPENDITURES
However, meeting the basic needs of the world's population is not a
priority for capitalism.
The annual expenditure necessary to provide basic education for all
around the world is $6 billion. In comparison, the annual expenditure
for cosmetics in the USA is $8 billion.
Annual expenditure to provide water and sanitation for all is $9
billion. In comparison the annual expenditure on ice cream in Europe
is $11 billion. The annual expenditure to provide reproductive health
for all women is $12 billion. In comparison, the annual expenditure on
perfumes in Europe and the USA is $12 billion.
Annual expenditure necessary to provide basic health and nutrition is
$13 billion. In contrast, annual expenditure on pet foods in Europe
and USA is $17 billion. Compared to all those, annual military
spending in the world is $780 billion. (1998, 37)
For every $1 that rich countries spend on aid, they allocate $10 to
military spending. Current spending on HIV/AIDS, a disease that claims
3 million lives per year, represents three days' worth of military
spending (2005, 8)
The $7 billion needed to provide 2.6 billion people with access to
clean water is less than European spends on perfume and less than
Americans spend on elective corrective surgery. This is for an
investment that would save an estimated 4,000 lives each day. (2005,
8)
PROFIT NOT NEED
This is because capitalism is a system based on profit rather than
need. Food production has increased and prices fallen.
"If all the food produced worldwide were distributed equally, every
person would be able to consume 2,760 calories a day -- hunger is
defined as consuming under 1,960 calories a day." (2003, 87)
But as a result of the operations of capitalism, every day, 800
million people (almost one in five) go hungry, and every year ten
million people die of hunger.
MEDICINES
Millions of people are in desperate need of medicines. But as the
pharmaceutical industry is capitalist in nature, less than 10% of
global spending on health research addressed 90% of the global disease
burden and health problems of 90% of the world's people. (2002, 7)
People dying of hunger in a world where there has never been so much
food, and people dying because they lack essential medicines because
less than 10% of global spending on health research and production
addresses 90% of the global disease burden shows that a system based
on profit rather than need is irrational and inhuman.
HUMAN COST
The human costs of maintaining the present system are far too high.
Every year, 10.7 million children died before five of preventable
causes (2005, 24) This means that every hour of everyday, 12000
children die of preventable causes. (2005, 1)
In the 1990s the number of children killed by diarrhea exceeded the
number of people killed in armed conflicts since the Second World War.
(2003, 104)
Some 500,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year, one for
every minute of the day. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a woman is one hundred
times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in a
high-income OECD country. (2003)
THE ENVIRONMENT
The environmental costs of maintaining capitalism are also too high.
The problem is that corporations resist regulations and do not take
into account damage to the environment; resulting in water scarcity,
deforestation, desertification, pollution and natural disaster.
Annual carbon dioxide emissions quadrupled over the past 50 years.
Sulphur dioxide emissions have more than doubled during the same
period. (98, 4)
Burning of fossil fuels has almost quintupled since 1950, consumption
of fresh water has doubled since 1960, marine catch has increased
fourfold, wood consumption is now 40% higher than 25 years ago.
(1998, 2)
In industrial countries, per capita waste generation has increased
threefold in the past 20 years. Water's global availability has
dropped from 17,000 cubic meters per capita in 1950 to 7,000 today.
A sixth of the world's land area (2 billion hectares) is degraded as a
result of poor farming since 1945. Forests are shrinking, since 1970
the wooded area per 1,000 people has fallen from 11.4 square kilometer
to 7.3. Some eight million to ten million acres of forest land are
lost each year.
Fish stocks are declining with about a quarter in danger of depletion
and another 44% being fished at their biological limits. Wild species
are becoming extinct 50 to 100 times faster than they would naturally.
(1998, 4)
And during 1967-1993 natural disasters affected three billion people
in developing countries with more than seven million deaths and two
million injuries. At current rate of loss, 15% of the earth's species
could disappear over the next 25 years. (1996, 26)
Air pollution is a serious problem for 700 million people, primarily
women and children. 2.7 million deaths each year from air pollution
(1998, 5)
THE ALTERNATIVES
A common objection is that capitalism might not be good, however there
are no alternatives. Socialism does and did not work, the fact that
countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union abandoned it
and adopted capitalism proves it.
However, the UN's Human Development Reports show the achievements and
successes of socialism. It notes that socialism was one of the world's
history's "great ascent from human poverty". "There have been two
great ascents from human poverty in recent history: the first in
industrial countries during the late 19th and the early 20th
centuries, and the second in developing countries, Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union after the Second World War. They had similar
elements, but the second had a larger scale and a faster timetable.
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union made advances: infant
mortality was reduced by half, from 81 to 41 per 1,000 live births.
Life expectancy increased from 58 to 66 years for men and from 63 to
74 years for women. And income poverty was declining. In Hungary
between the early 1960s and 1972, the proportion of people living
below the poverty line fell from 60% to 14%". (1997, 25)
CHINA AND INDIA
If we compare similar countries today on the basis of Human
Development Indicators, socialist China and capitalist India, or
socialist Cuba and capitalist Latin America, the achievements
successes of socialism compared to capitalism are evident.
Since 1949, China has made impressive reductions in human poverty.
Between 1949 and 1995 it reduced infant mortality from 200 per 1,000
live births to 42 per 1000 live births, and increased life expectancy
at birth from 35 years to 69. Today almost all children go to school
and adult illiteracy, 80% in the 1950s has fallen to 19%. The
incidence of poverty from widespread fell to 9% in the 1980s. Hunger
has been totally eradicated. (1997, 49-50)
By contrast, in India, 53% of children under age four, 60 million,
remain undernourished. Infant mortality is 74 per 1,000 live births,
and there are each year 2.2 million infant deaths, most of them
avoidable. Rural poverty is 39% and urban poverty 30%. Half the
population is still illiterate. Life expectancy is 61, eight years
less than China. (1997, 51-52)
In China, public spending on education is 2.3% of GDP while that on
health is 2.1% of GDP. The outcomes for human development are clear.
Literacy stands at 84%, infant mortality rates at 32 per 1,000 lives
birth and under-five mortality rates at 40 per 1,000 live births.
(2003, 73)
Proportional to population, China spends three times as much as India
on health care. In India health spending stands at 1.3% of GDP.
(central and state governments combined) Human development indicators
remain much lower for India than for China. Literacy stands at 65%,
infant mortality at 68 per 1,000 live births, and under five mortality
rates at 96 per 1,000 live births. (2003, 73)
If India provided the same health care as China, every year 1.7
million children could be saved. (1998, 156-157 and 176-177)
CUBA
In Cuba, there is one medical doctor for 170 people. In the rest of
Latin America, the proportion is of one doctor for 613 people. Cuba
spends per inhabitant twice as much on health care and education than
the rest of Latin America. (2003, 255)
Cuba's per capita income is a small fraction of that of the USA, yet
it has the same infant mortality rate and has kept HIV/AIDS under
control. (2003, 87)
If the rest of Latin America invested as much as Cuba on health care,
every year 400,000 Latin American children could be saved and 20,000
fewer women would die in pregnancy or child birth.
In Latin America, the ten per cent richest people earn 46 times what
the poorest earn. In Cuba the proportion is five times. (2003, 283)
A quarter of Latin Americans have to survive on two dollars a day or
less. In Cuba, less than two per cent do. (2003, 245)
THE FORMER SOVIET BLOC
Evidence shows that countries that abandoned the construction of
socialism and adopted capitalism experienced a massive regression.
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS experienced the sharpest
increase in poverty in the 1990s, the only other region with worsening
trends in poverty is Sub-Saharan Africa. (2005, 21)
Ukraine fell 17 places and Russia 15 places while Tadjikistan fell 21
places. Russia fell 48 places in world life expectancy ranking from
1990 to 2003. (2005, 22) Life expectancy for men has fallen from 70
in 1990 to 59 today, lower than India. If this remains constant, 40
percent of 15 years old Russians will be dead before they reach 60.
(2005, 26)
Between 2.5 to 3 million people died during the 1992-2001 period. "In
the absence of war, famine or health epidemics, there is no recent
historical precedent for the scale of the loss." (2005, 23)
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS experienced a dramatic increase
in poverty. The number of people on less than $2 a day there rose from
23 million in 1990 to 93 million in 2001, from 5% to 20%. (2005, 34)
In the countries of the former Soviet Union, transition brought with
it one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression of the
1930s, and in many case despite positive growth over the last few
years, incomes are still lower than they were 15 years ago. (2005,
34)
Since 1990 real per capita incomes have fallen by more than 10% in
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine and by 40% in Georgia, Moldova and
Tajikistan. In Russia, 10 percent of the population live on less than
$2 a day and 25 percent live below the national subsistence level.
(2005, 35)
WHY WE ARE SOCIALISTS
These are the main reasons why we believe that capitalism, as a way of
organizing society and the economy, fails and is not sustainable; and
advocate socialism as a viable alternative and a better way of
organizing the world.
*******
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Volume 3, Number 4
4 October 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Capitalism and Socialism
*******
CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM
By Liam O'Ruairc
Every year since 1990, the United Nations publishes its Human
Development Report. It contains the most authoritative data on the
state of the world. These reports are available online:
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/view_reports.cfm?type=1. Based on those
reports (referred to by year, followed by page), what does our world
look like?
CAPITALISM
We live in a capitalist world. Capitalism is a very dynamic system
that produces a tremendous amount of wealth. Never has the world been
so rich.
Global output increased more than eleven fold between 1850 and 1960,
from $611 billion to $6,936 billion in 1993 dollars. The world's
population more than doubled during the same period, rising from 1.2
billion in 1850 to 3 billion in 1960. The net outcome: nearly a
fivefold increase in per capita income. During the same period, the
goods and services produced in the industrial countries expanded
nearly thirty fold, from $212 billion to $6,103 billion (1996, 12)
Between 1960 and 1993, global income increased from $4 trillion to $23
trillion, and per capita income more than tripled. (1996, 12) If
trends continue, it should grow form 23 trillion in 1993 to 56
trillion in 2030. (1996, 36)
Global GDP increased nine folds from $3 trillion to $30 trillion over
the past 50 years. (1999, 25)
It has allowed a huge development of consumerism. Private and public
consumption expenditure reached $24 trillion in 1998, twice the level
of 1975 and six times that of 1950. In 1900, real consumption
expenditure was barely $1.5 trillion. (1998, 1)
INEQUALITY
But capitalism has made the world a very unequal place.
The people living in the 20% richest countries in the world have 86%
of global GDP (global income), 82% of world export markets, 68% of
Foreign Direct Investment. (1999, 3)
The richest 1% of the world received as much income as the poorest
57%. The richest 10% of the US population (around 25 million people)
have a combined income greater than that of the poorest 43% of the
world population (around 2 billion people). (2001, 19; 2003, 39)
The poorest 40% of the world's population account for 5% of global
income, the richest 10% account for 54%.(2005, 4)
The 20% of the world's people in the high income countries account for
86% of total private consumption expenditure. The poorest 20% for a
mere 1.3%.
The richest fifth consume 45% of all meat and fish, 58% of total
energy, 65% of electricity, 84% of all paper, have 74% of phone lines
and own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet. The poorest fifth
consumes
5%, less than 4%, 1.1%, 1.5%, and less than 1% of all this. (1998, 2)
The poorest 20% of the world's people saw their share of the global
income decline from 2.3% to 1.4% in the past 30 years, meanwhile the
share of the richest 20% rose from 70% to 85%. (1996, 2)
Capitalism not only creates inequality, but it increases it both
between and within countries. The income gap between the richest
countries and the poorest countries was a ratio of 1:3 in 1820. This
increased to 1:7 in 1870 and 1:11 in 1913. In 1960 it was 1:30 and in
1990 1:60. In 1997 it was 1:74. (1999, 3)
Measured at the extremes, the gap between the average citizen in the
richest and in the poorest countries is wide and getting wider. In
1990 the average American was 38 times richer than the average
Tanzanian. Today the average American is 61 times richer. (2005, 37)
A Zambian today has less chance of reaching thirty years of age than
someone born in England in 1840. (2005, 4, 26)
GROWING INEQUALITY
A study of 77 countries with 82% of the world's population shows that
between the 1950s and the 1990s, inequality rose in 45 of those
countries and fell in 16 countries. (2001, 17)
Inequality within countries has been increasing over the last 30
years. Among the 73 countries with data (and 80% of the world's
people), 48 have seen inequality increase since the 1950s, 16 have
experienced no change, and only 9 (with 4% of the world's people) have
seen inequality fall. (2002, 20)
Between the 1980s and the late 1990s inequality increased in 42 of 73
countries with complete and comparable data. Only 6 of the 33
development countries saw inequality decline, while 17 saw an
increase. "In other words, within national boundaries, control over
assets and resources is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a
few people." (2003, 39)
Inequality is on the increase in countries which account for 80% of
the world's population. (2005, 6)
Between 1979 and 1997, US real GDP per capita grew 38%, but the income
of a family with median earnings grew only 9%. So most of the gain was
captured by the very richest people, with the incomes of the richest
1% of families growing 140%, three times the average. The income of
the top 1% of families was 10 times that of the median family in 1979
and 23 times in 1997. (2002, 20)
INFANTANT MORTALITY
The USA has the same infant mortality rate as Malaysia, a country with
an average income one quarter that of the USA. And the Indian state of
Kerala has an infant death rate lower than that for African Americans
in Washington DC. (2005, 58)
DISPOSABLE INCOME
At the end of the 1970s, the richest 10% of the UK population received
21% of total disposable income. Twenty years later, it received 28%,
nearly was much as for the entire bottom half of the population.
Average annual incomes for the richest 20% increased at about ten
times the rate for the poorest 20%. (3.8% compared with 0.4%) The UK's
GINI coefficient climbed from 25 to 35 by the mid-1990s, one of the
biggest increases in inequality in the world. (2005, 68)
A FAILING SYSTEM
As a system, capitalism does not work for the vast majority of the
world's population; it fails to provide for their basic needs.
Of the 4.4 billion people in developing countries, nearly three fifth
lack basic sanitation. A third have no access to clean water. A
quarter do not have adequate housing. A fifth no access to health
services. (1998, 2)
More than one billion people lack access to safe water. (2005, 24)
More than 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation. (2005, 24)
More than 850 million people, including one in three preschool
children suffer from malnutrition. (2005, 24)
$1 A DAY
One in five people in the world, more than one billion, still survive
on less than $1 a day in abject poverty. (2005, 24) "Living on $1 a
day does not mean being able to afford what $1 would buy when
converted into a local currency, but the equivalent of what $1 would
buy in the United States, a newspaper, a local bus ride, a bag of
rice." (2003, 41)
Another 1.5 billion people live on $1-2 a day. (2005, 24) "One fifth
of humanity lives in countries where many people think nothing of
spending $2 a day on capuccino. Another fifth of humanity survives on
less than $1 a day and live in countries where children die for want
of a simple anti-mosquito bed net." (2005, 3)
ILLITERACY
There are 854 million illiterate adults, 543 million of them women,
325 million children (one in seven) out of school at primary and
secondary levels, 183 million of them girls. (2001, 9) More than one
billion people live without adequate shelter, sanitation, electricity,
and there are 100 million people homeless sleeping in the street.
(1996,24)
THE WEALTHY
But capitalism allows a tiny minority to accumulate a vast amount of
wealth.
The 350 largest companies in the world account for 40% of global trade
and their turnover exceeds the GDP of many countries.
The turnover of General Motors ($168.8 billion) exceeds that of the
GDP of Denmark ($146.1 billion).
The turnover of Ford ($137.1 billion) exceeds the GDP of South Africa
($123.3 billion).
The turnover of Toyota ($111.1 billion), Exxon ($110 billion) and
Royal Dutch/Shell ($109.8 billion) exceeds the GDP of Norway, Poland
and Portugal ($109.6, $92.8, and $91.6 billion respectively).
The turnover of IBM ($72 billion) is greater than that of Malaysia
($68.5 billion). The combined assets of the top five corporations
($871.4 billion) is greater than that of the combined GDP of South
Asia ($451.3 billion), Sub-Saharan Africa ($246.8 billion) and least
developed countries ($76.5 billion). (1997, 92)
BILLIONAIRES
Between 1989 and 1996 the number of billionaires increased from 157 to
447. Today the net wealth of the ten richest billionaires is $133
billion, more than 1.5 times the total national income of all the
least developed countries. (1997, 38)
The world's 200 richest people more than doubled their net worth in
the four years to 1998, to more than $1 trillion. The assts of the top
three billionaires are more than the combined GNP of all least
developed countries and their 600 million people. (1999, 3)
The world's 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1
trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world
($2.5 billion). It is estimated that the cost of achieving and
maintaining universal access to education for all, health care for
all, reproductive health care for all women, adequate food for all and
safe water and sanitation for all is roughly $40 billion a year (0.1%
of world income). This is less than 4% of the combined wealth of the
225 richest people in the world. (1998, 30)
MATERIAL RESOURCES
The material resources to end poverty and inequality are there.
To provide universal access to basic social services and transfers to
alleviate income poverty with efficient targeting would cost roughly
$80 billion. That is less than 0.5% of global income and less than the
combined net worth of the seven richest men in the world. (1997, 112)
Redistributing 1.6% of the income of the richest 10 percent of the
global population would provide the $300 billion needed to lift the
one billion people living on less than a dollar a day out of extreme
poverty. (2005, 4)
COMPARATIVES EXPENDITURES
However, meeting the basic needs of the world's population is not a
priority for capitalism.
The annual expenditure necessary to provide basic education for all
around the world is $6 billion. In comparison, the annual expenditure
for cosmetics in the USA is $8 billion.
Annual expenditure to provide water and sanitation for all is $9
billion. In comparison the annual expenditure on ice cream in Europe
is $11 billion. The annual expenditure to provide reproductive health
for all women is $12 billion. In comparison, the annual expenditure on
perfumes in Europe and the USA is $12 billion.
Annual expenditure necessary to provide basic health and nutrition is
$13 billion. In contrast, annual expenditure on pet foods in Europe
and USA is $17 billion. Compared to all those, annual military
spending in the world is $780 billion. (1998, 37)
For every $1 that rich countries spend on aid, they allocate $10 to
military spending. Current spending on HIV/AIDS, a disease that claims
3 million lives per year, represents three days' worth of military
spending (2005, 8)
The $7 billion needed to provide 2.6 billion people with access to
clean water is less than European spends on perfume and less than
Americans spend on elective corrective surgery. This is for an
investment that would save an estimated 4,000 lives each day. (2005,
8)
PROFIT NOT NEED
This is because capitalism is a system based on profit rather than
need. Food production has increased and prices fallen.
"If all the food produced worldwide were distributed equally, every
person would be able to consume 2,760 calories a day -- hunger is
defined as consuming under 1,960 calories a day." (2003, 87)
But as a result of the operations of capitalism, every day, 800
million people (almost one in five) go hungry, and every year ten
million people die of hunger.
MEDICINES
Millions of people are in desperate need of medicines. But as the
pharmaceutical industry is capitalist in nature, less than 10% of
global spending on health research addressed 90% of the global disease
burden and health problems of 90% of the world's people. (2002, 7)
People dying of hunger in a world where there has never been so much
food, and people dying because they lack essential medicines because
less than 10% of global spending on health research and production
addresses 90% of the global disease burden shows that a system based
on profit rather than need is irrational and inhuman.
HUMAN COST
The human costs of maintaining the present system are far too high.
Every year, 10.7 million children died before five of preventable
causes (2005, 24) This means that every hour of everyday, 12000
children die of preventable causes. (2005, 1)
In the 1990s the number of children killed by diarrhea exceeded the
number of people killed in armed conflicts since the Second World War.
(2003, 104)
Some 500,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year, one for
every minute of the day. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a woman is one hundred
times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in a
high-income OECD country. (2003)
THE ENVIRONMENT
The environmental costs of maintaining capitalism are also too high.
The problem is that corporations resist regulations and do not take
into account damage to the environment; resulting in water scarcity,
deforestation, desertification, pollution and natural disaster.
Annual carbon dioxide emissions quadrupled over the past 50 years.
Sulphur dioxide emissions have more than doubled during the same
period. (98, 4)
Burning of fossil fuels has almost quintupled since 1950, consumption
of fresh water has doubled since 1960, marine catch has increased
fourfold, wood consumption is now 40% higher than 25 years ago.
(1998, 2)
In industrial countries, per capita waste generation has increased
threefold in the past 20 years. Water's global availability has
dropped from 17,000 cubic meters per capita in 1950 to 7,000 today.
A sixth of the world's land area (2 billion hectares) is degraded as a
result of poor farming since 1945. Forests are shrinking, since 1970
the wooded area per 1,000 people has fallen from 11.4 square kilometer
to 7.3. Some eight million to ten million acres of forest land are
lost each year.
Fish stocks are declining with about a quarter in danger of depletion
and another 44% being fished at their biological limits. Wild species
are becoming extinct 50 to 100 times faster than they would naturally.
(1998, 4)
And during 1967-1993 natural disasters affected three billion people
in developing countries with more than seven million deaths and two
million injuries. At current rate of loss, 15% of the earth's species
could disappear over the next 25 years. (1996, 26)
Air pollution is a serious problem for 700 million people, primarily
women and children. 2.7 million deaths each year from air pollution
(1998, 5)
THE ALTERNATIVES
A common objection is that capitalism might not be good, however there
are no alternatives. Socialism does and did not work, the fact that
countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union abandoned it
and adopted capitalism proves it.
However, the UN's Human Development Reports show the achievements and
successes of socialism. It notes that socialism was one of the world's
history's "great ascent from human poverty". "There have been two
great ascents from human poverty in recent history: the first in
industrial countries during the late 19th and the early 20th
centuries, and the second in developing countries, Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union after the Second World War. They had similar
elements, but the second had a larger scale and a faster timetable.
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union made advances: infant
mortality was reduced by half, from 81 to 41 per 1,000 live births.
Life expectancy increased from 58 to 66 years for men and from 63 to
74 years for women. And income poverty was declining. In Hungary
between the early 1960s and 1972, the proportion of people living
below the poverty line fell from 60% to 14%". (1997, 25)
CHINA AND INDIA
If we compare similar countries today on the basis of Human
Development Indicators, socialist China and capitalist India, or
socialist Cuba and capitalist Latin America, the achievements
successes of socialism compared to capitalism are evident.
Since 1949, China has made impressive reductions in human poverty.
Between 1949 and 1995 it reduced infant mortality from 200 per 1,000
live births to 42 per 1000 live births, and increased life expectancy
at birth from 35 years to 69. Today almost all children go to school
and adult illiteracy, 80% in the 1950s has fallen to 19%. The
incidence of poverty from widespread fell to 9% in the 1980s. Hunger
has been totally eradicated. (1997, 49-50)
By contrast, in India, 53% of children under age four, 60 million,
remain undernourished. Infant mortality is 74 per 1,000 live births,
and there are each year 2.2 million infant deaths, most of them
avoidable. Rural poverty is 39% and urban poverty 30%. Half the
population is still illiterate. Life expectancy is 61, eight years
less than China. (1997, 51-52)
In China, public spending on education is 2.3% of GDP while that on
health is 2.1% of GDP. The outcomes for human development are clear.
Literacy stands at 84%, infant mortality rates at 32 per 1,000 lives
birth and under-five mortality rates at 40 per 1,000 live births.
(2003, 73)
Proportional to population, China spends three times as much as India
on health care. In India health spending stands at 1.3% of GDP.
(central and state governments combined) Human development indicators
remain much lower for India than for China. Literacy stands at 65%,
infant mortality at 68 per 1,000 live births, and under five mortality
rates at 96 per 1,000 live births. (2003, 73)
If India provided the same health care as China, every year 1.7
million children could be saved. (1998, 156-157 and 176-177)
CUBA
In Cuba, there is one medical doctor for 170 people. In the rest of
Latin America, the proportion is of one doctor for 613 people. Cuba
spends per inhabitant twice as much on health care and education than
the rest of Latin America. (2003, 255)
Cuba's per capita income is a small fraction of that of the USA, yet
it has the same infant mortality rate and has kept HIV/AIDS under
control. (2003, 87)
If the rest of Latin America invested as much as Cuba on health care,
every year 400,000 Latin American children could be saved and 20,000
fewer women would die in pregnancy or child birth.
In Latin America, the ten per cent richest people earn 46 times what
the poorest earn. In Cuba the proportion is five times. (2003, 283)
A quarter of Latin Americans have to survive on two dollars a day or
less. In Cuba, less than two per cent do. (2003, 245)
THE FORMER SOVIET BLOC
Evidence shows that countries that abandoned the construction of
socialism and adopted capitalism experienced a massive regression.
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS experienced the sharpest
increase in poverty in the 1990s, the only other region with worsening
trends in poverty is Sub-Saharan Africa. (2005, 21)
Ukraine fell 17 places and Russia 15 places while Tadjikistan fell 21
places. Russia fell 48 places in world life expectancy ranking from
1990 to 2003. (2005, 22) Life expectancy for men has fallen from 70
in 1990 to 59 today, lower than India. If this remains constant, 40
percent of 15 years old Russians will be dead before they reach 60.
(2005, 26)
Between 2.5 to 3 million people died during the 1992-2001 period. "In
the absence of war, famine or health epidemics, there is no recent
historical precedent for the scale of the loss." (2005, 23)
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS experienced a dramatic increase
in poverty. The number of people on less than $2 a day there rose from
23 million in 1990 to 93 million in 2001, from 5% to 20%. (2005, 34)
In the countries of the former Soviet Union, transition brought with
it one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression of the
1930s, and in many case despite positive growth over the last few
years, incomes are still lower than they were 15 years ago. (2005,
34)
Since 1990 real per capita incomes have fallen by more than 10% in
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine and by 40% in Georgia, Moldova and
Tajikistan. In Russia, 10 percent of the population live on less than
$2 a day and 25 percent live below the national subsistence level.
(2005, 35)
WHY WE ARE SOCIALISTS
These are the main reasons why we believe that capitalism, as a way of
organizing society and the economy, fails and is not sustainable; and
advocate socialism as a viable alternative and a better way of
organizing the world.
*******
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