S cialiSt Political Journal of the Socialist Party Issue 10 l Summer 2020 l €3 / £2 alternative l Keynes, the crisis of neoliberalism & why capitalism can’t be reformed l Transphobia & the Left: Bogus science & bogus Marxism INSIDE l April 1920: Revolutionary general strike in Ireland S cialiSt Political Journal of the Socialist Party Issue 10 l Summer 2020 alternative iN thiS iSSuE No.10 SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE is the political and theoretical journal of the Socialist Party. FEaturE Editors: Cillian Gillespie, COVID-19, Disaster Capitalism & Kevin Henry, Eddie McCabe the Case for Socialism Design: Eddie McCabe BY EDDIE MCCABE & KEISHIA TAYLOR 2 Keynes, the Crisis of Neoliberalism & SubScribE Now! Why Capitalism Can’t be Reformed Get a subscription to Socialist CILLIAN GILLESPIE 9 Alternative and The Socialist, the monthly newspaper of the Debenhams Workers Show the Way Socialist Party. Text “Subscribe” BY RUTH COPPINGER 15 to 087 2400331 Transphobia & the Left: Bogus Science & Bogus Marxism coNtact thE BY CONOR PAYNE 18 SocialiSt party North: 07821058319 1920: Revolutionary General Strike in Ireland South: 0873141986 BY MANUS LENIHAN 24 [email protected] How We Can Win an Alternative to the Leaving Cert iNtErNatioNal BY MYRIAM POIZAT 28 The Socialist Party is the Irish section of International Extended review Socialist Alternative (ISA), a One Man’s Terrorist by Daniel Finn socialist organisation linking BY SEAN BURNS 31 together groups in over 30 countries. rEviEw internationalocialist.net Home by Eoin O’Broin carries reports of struggles, REVIEWED BY MICHAEL O’BRIEN 34 analysis and a programme for the fight against capitalism. Normal People directed by Lenny Abrahamson REVIEWED BY HARPER CLEVES 35 Burned by Sam MacBride REVIEWED BY DANIEL WALDRON 36 A Planet to Win by Kate Aronof et al. REVIEWED BY AMY FERGUSON 38 internationalsocialist .net coviD-19 & Disaster capitalism Covid-19 Disaster Capitalism & the urgent case for socialism he world entered a new period in This fact exemplifies the insanity as well as the cruel history in 2020 with the onset of the injustice of the capitalist system. COVID-19 is a menacing disease and a serious threat in and of itself, Tcoronavirus. What kind of world will but it must be stressed that the destruction being exist after this pandemic is anyone’s guess, inflicted on the world today is not just the result of the but how we got here and how we can get virus – in many ways it could have been prevented. Rather, as we’ll go on to explain, it is the result of an out of this mess withot fear of a recurrence economic and social system that is constitutionally are burnig questions that have to be incapable of responding to a global health emergency grappled with. EDDIE MCCABE & KEISHIA in the manner required to safeguard the health and lives of the public. TAyLOR argue that the capitalist system Perhaps it’s not surprising that a call for the itself is the central problem, and a socialist overthrow of capitalism is the first thing you read in a alternative has never been more urgent. socialist publication. It’s true that for socialists the innumerable horrors in the world today – all forms of poverty, violence, oppression – can more or less all be Capitalism must go. attributed to the capitalist system that’s dominated the Virtually everything about the world today screams world for the past 200 years. It’s the system that puts this. Take for example that in the midst of a global profit-making before literally everything else, and pandemic, when 1.6 billion people are in “immediate socialists have long argued for it to be done away with. danger of having their livelihoods destroyed”, What’s more interesting and much more important, according to the International Labour Organisation, however, is that the realisation that “capitalism must the billionaires of this world have found a bonanza. go” extends far beyond (active or conscious) socialists. Over four weeks in April, the 621 billionaires in the It’s a conclusion that’s dawning rapidly on millions of US increased their wealth by $308 billion! 1 At the people. What other conclusion can really be drawn same time 30 million workers in the US lost their from the series of crises – nay catastrophes – that jobs. 2 impend for the world we live in? Writing in a period of 2 l SocialiSt altErNativE l SuMMEr 2020 comparable turmoil in the early 20th century, German- and genuine fears for loved ones are palpable – and for Jewish philosopher, Walter Benjamin, put it like this: good reason. Much is still being discovered about this disease, including that as well as attacking the “Marx says that revolutions are the locomotives of respiratory system, the virus is also attacking muscles, world history. But the situation may be quite kidneys, circulatory system and the brain. It seems different. Perhaps revolutions are not the train ride, new strains may also be more contagious and despite but the human race grabbing for the emergency earlier information about young children being less at brake.” risk, deadly illnesses linked to COVID-19 have been detected among children. Whatever one thinks of the merits of this particular To compound the problem of the threat to the analogy, it does convey the urgency of the present physical health of millions of people, agencies and situation. Never before has it been so apparent that experts now warn that “a historic wave of mental- capitalism is leading humanity to extinction – or that health problems is approaching: depression, substance revolutionary socialist change is our only hope. abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.” 3 In Italy, the first European country to be significantly the year 2020 impacted, with over 30,000 recorded deaths, this is The year 2020 was the dawn of a new decade now a major concern among survivors: “fear of dying, following twenty “lost years” in the 21st century, which anxiety, depression, anger, panic attacks, insomnia and more than anything were defined by wars, recession survivor’s guilt – all known to affect survivors of and political instability. Any idea that 2020 offered a natural disasters and war – have emerged as common chance for a new more hopeful start was quickly symptoms.” 4 It doesn’t help that in most states mental dashed by two major events in January: health services were already hugely underfunded, The assasination of Iranian Major General, Qasem fragmented and difficult to access. Soleimani, by a US drone strike on 3 January, In fact much of the stress that abounds in relation inflaming tension between two nuclear powers, and to COVID-19, is just as much about confidence, or lack raising fears of a new world war. thereof, in healthcare systems, and their ability to cope The terrifying images of Australian bushfires, and treat patients adequately, as it is about the virus exacerbated by global warming, which burnt more itself. Decades of neoliberal policies have decimated than 18 million hectares, destroyed over 5,900 health services. Even the once exemplary NHS in buildings, killed at least 34 people and an estimated Britain suffers from a shortage of doctors and nurses one billion animals. Gargantuan plumes of smoke (there are currently 43,000 vacant nurse posts) 5, reached as far eastwards as Chile. working longer hours for less pay, as well as a shortage Four months on and these events now seem like of hospital beds and medical equipment. Following a distant memories. In fact January 2020 will forever be decade of Tory austerity 17,000 hospital beds were remembered for the news that in the city of Wuhan in lost. 6 Of course the situation is worse in the many China, 11 million people were put on strict lockdown parts of the world that never had a proper functioning on 23 January to contain the spread of a novel universal healthcare system. coronavirus (first detected in December 2019). Cases Added to all of this is the inability of the capitalist had also been found in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, system to efficiently produce and equitably distribute Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the personal protective equipment (PPE) in the quantities United States by then. needed. Four months on and there are still major Not a promising start, but even then few predicted shortages, and ruthless competition between states to that two months on there would be over 300,000 cases acquire whatever they can. Despicably, some of the virus and 11,000 deaths globally; three months manufacturers and suppliers are making a killing on and reported cases exceeded 2.6 million spanning from this crisis, with NHS chief executives reporting virtually every country on the planet, with over inflated PPE prices of up to 825%! 7 Clearly, emergency 180,000 deaths; and at the time of writing (May) there measures are in order to requisition and, where are more than 4.7 million reported cases and 310,000 necessary, retool factories to upscale production to deaths – with, unfortunately, no end in sight. meet the demand – provided at cost prices. Profiting from a global pandemic is utterly unacceptable. a new troubling world The effect of this pandemic on society has been earth- Economic crash exacerbates inequality shaking. Hundreds of millions of people are in As an inescapable consequence of enacting measures lockdown, unable to leave their homes except to buy to combat such an anti-social disease on a global scale, necessary supplies. Billions of people’s daily lives have the world economy has gone into freefall; experiencing been massively disrupted due to enforced measures of the sharpest downturn since the Great Depression — social distancing, including self-isolation, cocooning deeper and much more rapid than the Financial Crash and quarantining for those most at risk.