Proportional Representation-based Socialism newsletter 5
Steve Wallis
Website: www.PRsocialism.org Forum: tinyurl.com/prsocialismforum
Newsletter 5 (31 October 2008)
Editor’s note: I, Steve Wallis, have written all the articles in this
newsletter. I would welcome replies to points made in this newsletter
and articles/letters for future newsletters, posted to the forum (with
the web address above) or emailed to me personally at
revolutionary...@yahoo.co.uk. I have recently changed my
strategy for achieving a democratic socialist society from opposing
and sabotaging Marxism to uniting with Marxists, as outlined in this
newsletter. This will hopefully encourage other revolutionary
socialists to get involved.
As with previous Foundation newsletters, anyone who agrees with the
politics in it can download it from the website (with the web address
above) in Word or PDF format, print it out and distribute it anywhere
in the world.
Support Barack Obama as a step towards achieving socialism!
The date of the US presidential election (the 4th of November) is
looming. The far left (revolutionary socialists, particularly
Marxists) have traditionally opposed both the Democrats and
Republicans as parties of big business. Sometimes they have supported
alternative candidates, particularly Ralph Nader, who stood as a Green
Party candidate in 1996 and 2000, receiving 2,883,105 votes (2.74%) in
the latter year.
Nader was widely blamed for George W Bush beating Al Gore in 2000,
because Nader’s votes in New Hampshire and Florida vastly exceeded the
difference in their votes, but so did the votes of the other six third-
party candidates. Gore actually got more votes than Bush in Florida
but was defrauded by a Supreme Court ruling halting a manual recount –
there were many more “hanging chads” (from ballot papers that hadn’t
been properly punched by machines) on papers of those voting for Gore
than Bush, because instructions on how to vote were very complicated
and Bush supporters tended to be better educated, and exit polls
showed Gore way ahead of Bush (far more than the difference in their
recorded votes). The argument that there was not time to count the
votes ahead of a court deadline was ridiculous, considering that
manual counts take place in a few hours in the UK, but it suited
Bush’s allies in the courts to defraud Gore.
Nevertheless, Nader received a mere 463,653 votes (0.38%) when he
stood again, independently this time, in 2004. Clearly most of Gore’s
supporters had switched to the Democrats and perhaps even campaigned
for its candidate John Kerry that year. They correctly drew the
conclusion that, under the extremely undemocratic US electoral system,
change could only realistically come via the Democrats. Some got
involved in left-wing organisations operating within the Democratic
Party including the Progressive Democrats of America. Right-wingers
are organised so left-wingers need to be too, as the Militant Tendency
argued when it was a faction of the British Labour Party (until it
left in the early 1990s).
In the second live TV debate with Bush in 2004, Kerry pledged to tax
the rich (reverse tax cuts of 85 or 90 billion dollars for those
earning over $200,000 a year) and close all tax loopholes. This was
the primary reason why Kerry was also defrauded, in an election where
votes were conducted using computers with no paper trial preventing
manual recounts, and with the three companies providing most of the
computers linked to the Republicans and refusing requests for
impartial observers to examine the software! Some voters pressed
“Back” on the computers and found that their vote was being registered
with Bush when they had voted for someone else (actually a sign that
some of the programmers wanted the fraud to be discovered!) Other
dubious tactics included having more voting machines per person in
white areas than black ones in that highly segregated country, with
some queuing for several hours to vote and others giving up.
Like New Labour in Britain, which is introducing ID cards linked to a
central database and collecting other information about us including
car registration numbers gleaned from speed cameras (even those not
speeding), the Republicans have tried to ensure that capitalism
continues forever using measures like the Patriot Act. This alone
would be a reason to vote for Obama, in addition to increasing the
likelihood of a swift end to the war in Iraq and the Democrats
carrying out the large number of reforms in the interest of working
and middle class people that Obama is promising. Don’t just take my
word for him having a left-wing programme – watch the 30-minute ad
shown on TV (search YouTube for “Obama infomercial”) and/or visit
www.BarackObama.com. Obama is not a revolutionary socialist, but nor
was Fidel Castro before the Cuban revolution – and a victory for him
will greatly increase the chances of a socialist transformation of
society as well as a fair electoral system, in the USA and with a
knock-on effect around the world!
Will Obama be defrauded like Gore and Kerry? Obama’s defeat would be
blamed on racism; he’ll have 5000 volunteer lawyers in Florida but
will that prevent it? Visit www.nomorestolenelections.org. Or will he
be assassinated, as planned by two neo-Nazis? [They were described as
“skinheads” in many news reports. Great! Those who look like fascists
either are ones, are pretending to be ones, or are unaware of the
impression such a hairstyle gives.]
Democratise the banks and end repossessions
Stock markets around the world have recently come close to complete
financial meltdown. Governments and central banks around the world
have had to resort to huge subsidies and nationalisations to prevent
this from happening. Even the $700 billion in the USA and £500 billion
in the UK may not be enough! Gordon Brown is being hailed as the
saviour of capitalism and the British bailout is being copied
overseas, but in some countries, capitalists are having problems
borrowing the money they need to preserve their system and severe
conditions that attack the living standards of working and middle
class people may be imposed in order to get emergency funding from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Socialists should demand and indeed are demanding that money is also
used to help ordinary people in this recession, including an end to
repossessions (perhaps by the banks owning the properties and renting
them back to the previous owners). However, with many banks around the
world being nationalised, and the possibility that only
nationalisation of all the banks will lead to them lending to each
other again, we should insist that they are run democratically, with
most control in the hands of borrowers and savers (also with
representatives on the boards of the government and trade unions).
Left-wing activists should debate precisely what demands to put
forward, and there will be an opportunity for activists in the
Manchester area (in England) to do so at the next Convention of the
Left meeting (7pm, Monday 17 November, Friends’ Meeting House, Mount
Street, behind Manchester Central Library). Should the whole board be
elected annually, rather than just a third as with building societies
like the Nationwide, limiting change? Should there be referenda of
members if there is a minority opinion on the board such as over
whether to increase or decrease interest rates? Should there be local
meetings of borrowers, savers and workers to determine the banks’
policies?
Campaign for renewable sources of energy – and point out the need for
socialism
In these difficult economic times, it is unsurprising that many
ordinary people give higher priority to maintaining their living
standards than saving the planet. Since thousands are likely to freeze
to death this winter due to not being able to afford to heat their
homes, it would be inhuman to ignore their plight. We are rightly
cynical about politicians who sometimes talk green but help polluting
companies or use “climate change” as an excuse for building more
nuclear power stations – with by-products needed for nuclear weapons,
and those politicians supposedly worried about terrorism. [Would they
allow a terrorist attack on a nuclear power station, to excuse such a
severe clampdown on civil liberties that a socialist revolution would
become impossible?]
Capitalist politicians use talk of climate change as an excuse for
divide-and-rule, with some ordinary people more concerned about the
problem than others. Some fly across Britain while others use trains
or coaches; politicians serious about climate change would tax flights
to subsidise public transport.
With Scotland having had the coldest Easter for 46 years (and China
the coldest winter for 50), and Britain having had snow in October for
the first time since 1934, cynicism about global warming is
understandable. Even if it isn’t mainly caused by mankind, investment
in renewable sources of energy would still be preferable – due to the
pollution of carbon fuels (highlighted by the smog in Beijing before
the Olympics) and the fact that such resources are running out
(shortage of supplies caused oil price hikes). Also, it’s better to be
on the safe side than risk disastrous global warming.
Tidal and wind power are probably most suitable for the British
climate, but solar power is ideal in African deserts. An EU committee
recommended concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in Africa, that
focus sunlight onto a tower to drive a turbine, to provide Europe’s
power. The dangers of unstable African regimes or terrorist attacks on
power lines may make it unfeasible in the current unethical capitalist
world – but we should use that as a reason for socialist revolution,
rather than merely suggesting minor reforms that do little to solve
the world’s energy problems or help the struggle for a better world.
Turn the Convention of the Left into an anti-capitalist network
There have been many different attempts to unite left-wing activists,
in Britain and elsewhere in the world, in recent years. Most of these
have involved revolutionary socialists uniting with reformists, with
parties generally putting forward lowest common denominator politics
such as reformist demands. The economic crisis is so great that
gradual reforms are insufficient to deal with it effectively, and New
Labour is already borrowing many billions of pounds that it cannot
afford, funded by borrowing (£37.6 billion in six months) with the
Tories and Lib Dems making similar promises. If activists don’t talk
about the need to replace the capitalist economic system with
socialism, it will never happen!
The Convention of the Left, which met during Labour’s conference in
September, brought together activists with a wide range of political
views inside and outside that party. The time is not ripe to launch a
new party that stands candidates in elections – there is still a
struggle taking place within the Labour Party with the prospect of a
sizeable split-off linking up with socialists outside the party.
Whereas I would be in favour of a democratic revolutionary socialist
party, calling for hierarchies of committees based on workplaces and
local communities (as advocated by Marxists) but also with a
government elected by proportional representation (preferably with
single transferable vote to end tactical voting), a broader
organisation, perhaps called the Anti-Capitalist Network, would be
more viable and inclusive now.
[In box:]
Convention of the Left recall conference
Saturday 29 November, Manchester
For details, visit www.conventionoftheleft.org
I’d urge all socialists in Britain to come to the Convention’s recall
conference (see the box) and discuss the way forward. It is the most
promising attempt at left unity so far, largely because it was a rank-
and-file initiative by activists in Manchester.
--
If you are on Facebook, a social networking site on which censorship
is virtually impossible (except on "closed" groups for which
moderators need to approve people joining and "secret" groups that you
need to be invited to join), you may like to visit/join my new group
"Democratise the banks and end repossessions" at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31888039123.
--
Steve Wallis (Manchester, England)
Preferred email address: revolutionary...@yahoo.co.uk
Blogs: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/steve-wallis-socialist-blog,
http://blog.myspace.com/galaxiasteve
My socialist website: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk
My pages at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1038291480,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/galaxiasteve and Bebo:
http://www.bebo.com/SteveW519
Founder, Ethical Capitalism Network: http://www.ethicalcapitalism.net
Founder, Foundation for Proportional Representation-based Socialism:
http://www.PRsocialism.org
Founder, Revolutionary Platform Network: http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net
My revolutionary socialist band, Galaxia: http://www.galaxiamusic.net,
http://www.myspace.com/galaxiamusic,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Galaxia-a-revolutionary-socialist-band/84310120180,
http://www.bebo.com/galaxiamusic.
My socialist band, Red Day: http://www.red-day.net, http://www.myspace.com/reddayband,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Day/27468311341
Author, "Revolution Destroyed? Have I ensured that a world socialist
revolution will never happen?": http://www.revolutiondestroyed.net
For discussion of the credit crunch, go to
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?board=156
For discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories, go to
http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?board=89
[There are all sorts of font/formatting errors using Yahoo! mail that
I have to put up with from time to time. It's worth it - yahoo.co.uk
is based in the UK unlike hotmail.co.uk, which avoids the censorship
of the Department of Homeland Security in the USA, that recipients of
this message in "the land of the free" have to put up with, on whose
authority spam detection programs are used to filter out political
emails (using artificial intelligence techniques not just checking for
keywords). I'm not a "patriot" so I guess the Patriot Act is aimed at
people like myself as well as (or rather much more than) Islamic
fundamentalists.]