1 Socialist Standard September 2014

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1 Socialist Standard September 2014 Socialist Standard September 2014 1 Contact Details SPGB Media: [email protected] socialist UK BRANCHES & CONTACTS Frankfi eld, Cork. Tel: 021 4896427. Email: [email protected] LONDON Newtownabbey : Nigel McCullough. North London branch . Meets 3rd Tues 8pm Tel: 028 90852062. standard at Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Ave, SCOTLAND NW5 2RX and 4th Tues 8.00pm in September Edinburgh branch . Meets1st Thur. 7.00- at the Coronet, 338 Holloway Rd, N7 6NJ 9.00pm. The Quaker Hall, Victoria Terrace SEPTEMBER 2014 Contact: [email protected] or 020 (above Victoria Street), Edinburgh. 7609 0983 J. Moir. Tel: 0131 440 0995. South London branch . Meets 1st Tues. [email protected] Branch 7.00pm. Head Offi ce. 52 Clapham High St, website: contents SW4 7UN. Tel: 020 7622 3811 http://geocities.com/edinburghbranch/ West London branch . Meets 1st & 3rd Tues. Glasgow branch . Meets 3rd Wednesday of 8pm. Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfi eld Terrace each month at 8pm in Community Central FEATURES (corner Sutton Court Rd), W4. Corres: 51 Halls, 304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow. Peter Gayford Road, London W12 9BY. Tel: 020 Hendrie, 75 Lairhills Road, East Kilbride, Scottish Referendum 10 8740 6677. Email: [email protected] Glasgow G75 0LH. Tel: 01355 903105. Email: [email protected]. Armed and Dangerous 12 MIDLANDS Dundee . Ian Ratcliffe, 12 Finlow Terrace West Midlands Regional branch . Meets last Dundee, DD4 9NA, Tel 01382 541643 Sunday of the month, the Briar Rose pub, 25 Aggression 14 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham B2 5RE. Kilmarnock .Meets last Thursday of month E-Mail:[email protected]. 7pm-9pm at the Wheatsheaf pub (about 2 Tel:01242 675357 minutes from bus station). Paul Edwards. Tel: Competition 15 01563 541138. Email:rainbow3@btopenworld. NORTHEAST com Piketty and Capitalism 16 Northeast branch . Contact: Steve Colborn, Lothian Socialist Discussion @Autonomous tel: 01915 817 830, email: stvclbrn@yahoo. Centre Edinburgh, ACE, 17 West Montgomery co.uk Place, Edinburgh EH7 5HA. Meets 4th Wednesday of each month 7.30-9.00pm. Tel: REGULARS NORTHWEST F.Anderson 07724 082753. Lancaster branch . Meets fortnightly 8.30pm. Pathfi nders 4 P. Shannon, 10 Green Street, Lancaster WALES LA1 1DZ. Tel: 01524 382380 Email: spgb. Swansea branch . Meets 2nd Mon, 7.30pm, Halo Halo! 6 [email protected] Unitarian Church, High Street. Corres: Manchester branch . Paul Bennett, 6 Burleigh Geoffrey Williams, 19 Baptist Well Street, Cooking the Books 7 Mews, Hardy Lane, M21 7LB. Waun Wen, Swansea SA1 6FB. Material World Tel: 0161 860 7189 Tel: 01792 643624 8 Bolton . Tel: H. McLaughlin. 01204 844589 Cardiff and District . Corres: Richard Greasy Pole 9 Cumbria . Brendan Cummings, 19 Queen St, Botterill, 21 Pen-Y-Bryn Rd, Gabalfa, Cardiff, Millom, Cumbria LA18 4BG CF14 3LG. Tel: 02920-615826 Email: Cooking the Books 18 Carlisle : Robert Whitfi eld. Email: robdotbob@ [email protected] gmail.com Tel: 07906 373975 Llandudno Mixed Media 19 Rochdale . Tel: R. Chadwick. 01706 522365 Contact: Gareth Whitley - Email: gwhitley@ Southeast Manchester . Enquiries: Blanche hotmail.co.uk Reviews 20 Preston, 68 Fountains Road, M32 9PH Proper Gander 21 INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS YORKSHIRE Meetings 22 Yorkshire Regional Branch: Richard Latin America . J.M. Morel, Calle 7 edif 45 Rainferd, tel: 01484 327468 apto 102, Multis nuevo La loteria, 50 Years Ago 23 [email protected] La Vega, Rep. Dominicana. AFRICA Action Replay 23 SOUTH /SOUTHEAST /SOUTHWEST Kenya . Patrick Ndege, PO Box 78105, Nairobi. Kent and Sussex Regional branch. Meets Swaziland . Mandla Ntshakala, PO Box 981, Voice from the Back 24 second Sunday every month at 2.00pm at The Manzini. Free Lunch 24 Muggleton Inn, High Street, Maidstone ME14 Zambia. Kephas Mulenga, PO Box 280168, 1HJ. Kitwe. Email: [email protected] ASIA Tel: 07973 142701. Japan . Michael. Email: japan.wsm@gmail. South West Regional branch. Meets 2nd com Saturday of each month in the Railway AUSTRALIA Tavern, Salisbury, 2.00pm (check before Trevor Clarke, [email protected] The Socialist Party attending). Shane Roberts, 86 High Street, EUROPE 52 Clapham High Street, Bristol BS5 6DN. Tel: 0117 9511199 Denmark . Graham Taylor, Kjaerslund 9, fl oor London SW4 7UN Canterbury . Rob Cox, 4 Stanhope Road, Deal, 2 (middle), DK-8260 Viby J Tel : 0207 622 3811 Kent, CT14 6AB Germany . Norbert. Luton . Nick White, 59 Heywood Drive, LU2 E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 7LP Norway . Robert Stafford. Website : www.worldsocialism.org/spgb Redruth . Harry Sowden, 5 Clarence Villas, Email: [email protected] Blog: http://socialismoryourmoneyback. Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 1PB. Italy. Gian Maria Freddi, Via Felice Casorati blogspot.com/ Tel: 01209 219293 n. 6A, 37131 Verona Spain . Alberto Gordillo, Avenida del Parque EAST ANGLIA 2/2/3 Puerta A, 13200 Manzanares. SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS East Anglian Regional branch. Meets every should be sent to the address above. two months on a Saturday afternoon (see COMPANION PARTIES OVERSEAS RATES: One year subscription (normal rate) meetings page for details). £15. One year subscription (low/unwaged) £10. Pat Deutz, 11 The Links, Billericay, CM12 Europe rate £20 (Air mail). Rest of world £25 0EX. [email protected] Socialist Party of Canada/Parti Socialiste (Air mail). Voluntary supporters subscription David Porter, Eastholme, Bush Drive, Eccles- du Canada . Box 4280, Victoria B.C. V8X 3X8 £20 or more. Cheques payable to ‘The Socialist on-Sea, NR12 0SF. Canada. Party of Great Britain’. Tel: 01692 582533. Email:[email protected] Richard Headicar, 42 Woodcote, Firs Rd, World Socialist Party (India) 257 Baghajatin Hethersett, NR9 3JD. Tel: 01603 814343. ‘E’ Block (East), Kolkata - 700086, Tel: 033- The next meeting of the Executive Committee Cambridge . Andrew Westley, 10 Marksby 2425-0208, Email: [email protected] will be on Saturday 4 October at the address Close, Duxford, Cambridge CB2 4RS. World Socialist Party (New Zealand) P.O. above. Correspondence should be sent to Tel: 07890343044 Box 1929, Auckland, NI, New Zealand. the General Secretary. All articles, letters World Socialist Party of the United States and notices should be sent to the Editorial IRELAND P.O. Box 440247, Boston, MA 02144 USA. Committee. Cork : Kevin Cronin, 5 Curragh Woods, Email: [email protected] 2 Socialist Standard September 2014 Introducing The Socialist Party The Socialist Party is like no other political new socialists. We publish pamphlets will be able to draw on and greater will be party in Britain. It is made up of people who and books, as well as CDs, DVDs and the new ideas for building the movement have joined together because we want to various other informative material. We which you will be able to bring us. get rid of the profi t system and establish also give talks and take part in debates; The Socialist Party is an organisation of real socialism. Our aim is to persuade attend rallies, meetings and demos; run equals. There is no leader and there are others to become socialist and act for educational conferences; host internet no followers. So, if you are going to join themselves, organising democratically discussion forums, make fi lms presenting we want you to be sure that you agree and without leaders, to bring about the our ideas, and contest elections when fully with what we stand for and that we kind of society that we are advocating practical. Socialist literature is available are satisfi ed that you understand the case in this journal. We are solely concerned in Arabic, Bengali, Dutch, Esperanto, for socialism. with building a movement of socialists for French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, If you would like more details about socialism. We are not a reformist party Swedish and Turkish as well as English. The Socialist Party, complete and with a programme of policies to patch up The more of you who join The Socialist return the form on page 23. capitalism. Party the more we will be able to get our We use every possible opportunity to make ideas across, the more experiences we socialist standard Editorial SEPTEMBER 2014 Is it better to be exploited by one’s fellow-countrymen? ‘If they speak consciously and openly to the working class, Scottish businessmen and landowners on the basis of shared then they summarise their philanthropy in the following words: ‘nationality’. It is better to be exploited by one’s fellow-countrymen than by Working class unity enables us to combine our tactics for foreigners.’ (Marx, 1848) defending our class with the strategy of liberating our class. Socialists do not fall into the trap of the ‘progressive’ facade A SEPARATE parliament in Scotland would be a capitalist of nationalism. The success of the right-wing Ukrainian and parliament. It would not provide Scottish workers with any Russian nationalists shows the danger of believing that radical greater control over their own lives. Scotland would remain nationalist slogans always lead to radical results. Scottish an integral part of international capitalism. An Edinburgh nationalism does not strengthen the campaign for socialism or sovereign parliament will leave the workers in exactly the create a united, class-conscious working class, but fragments same position as before. and weakens it. Scottish nationalism is the reaction of one section of the To those who are in the ‘Yes’ camp, we are saying Scottish capitalist class to what they perceive as the declining independence will not improve your condition one iota. Only fortunes of British capitalism and their ‘unequal’ treatment class struggle could do that and only with diffi culty. Any within it. They seek to keep the taxes on North Sea oil success or otherwise of any workers’ movement in Scotland revenues and create a corporate tax structure more suited to depends on close ties with similar movements in England (and their own needs. The SNP advocate industrial harmony and elsewhere). At the same time, we are not defending ‘British an end to class confl ict.
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