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1 Socialist Standard November 2020 Socialist Standard November 2020 1 Introducing the Socialist Party The Socialist Party advocates a society developing Russian capitalism under a where production is freed from the one-party dictatorship. Both failures have artificial constraints of profit and given socialism a quite different -- and organised for the benefit of all on the unattractive -- meaning: state ownership basis of material abundance. It does not and control. As the Socialist Standard have policies to ameliorate aspects of pointed out before both courses were the existing social system. It is opposed followed, the results would more properly to all war. be called state capitalism. The Socialist Standard is the combative The Socialist Party and the World monthly journal of the Socialist Party, Socialist Movement affirm that capitalism published without interruption since is incapable of meaningful change in 1904. In the 1930s the Socialist Standard the interests of the majority; that the explained why capitalism would not basis of exploitation is the wages/money collapse of its own accord, in response to system. The Socialist Standard is proud widespread claims to the contrary, and to have kept alive the original idea of continues to hold this view in face of the what socialism is -- a classless, stateless, notion’s recent popularity. Beveridge’s of the natural world can have limited wageless, moneyless society or, defined welfare measures of the 1940s were effect and run counter to the nature of positively, a democracy in which free and viewed as a reorganisation of poverty and capitalism itself. equal men and women co-operate to a necessary ‘expense’ of production, and Gradualist reformers like the Labour produce the things they need to live and Keynesian policies designed to overcome Party believed that capitalism could be enjoy life, to which they have free access slumps an illusion. Today, the journal transformed through a series of social in accordance with the principle ‘from exposes as false the view that banks measures, but have merely become each according to their abilities, to each create money out of thin air, and explains routine managers of the system. The according to their needs’ why actions to prevent the depredation Bolsheviks had to be content with All original material is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales (CC BY-ND 2.0 UK) licence. 2 Socialist Standard November 2020 Editorial Science, Politics and Profits As has long been predicted, the second The decision to end the lockdown was mayor of Greater Manchester, who initially wave of coronavirus is upon us. All along based not on the grounds that the virus resisted the imposition of Tier 3 restrictions the government has claimed it has been was beaten but under pressure from in his area demanding more money to following the science. On the face of it, businesses that were feeling the squeeze. compensate workers and local businesses. this has appeared to be the case. In March, This and the lack of a functioning track and The government has also to be mindful in common with most countries, the trace system have, no doubt, contributed to of the costs of further restrictions. Its debt government instituted a national lockdown, the recent upsurge. Also, the government is already more than 100 percent of GDP, where all non-essential businesses were urging workers to return to their places of which is creating unease among Tory MPs closed and the state paid up to 80 percent work so as to prop up the local hospitality and Tory supporters in the press. of the wages of furloughed workers, to businesses didn’t help. Although the government couches its suppress the virus. It appeared for once This time, the government has measures in terms of saving livelihoods that workers’ welfare was being put before disregarded the scientific advice to and jobs, it is really capitalist profits they’re capitalist profits. Prior to this, however, introduce a second short-term national worried about. Science is not immune the government toyed with the idea of lockdown and instead has brought in a to this priority, so some scientists can herd immunity, which had the advantage three-tier system in England (separate always be induced to tell governments that businesses could stay open and trade arrangements have been made in Scotland, what they want to hear. Some scientists normally, where the virus would be allowed Wales and Northern Ireland) where have thus signed the Great Barrington to spread among the population. But with different regions are subjected to varying Agreement, which argues for ‘focused the prospect of millions of workers being levels of restrictions according to the protection’ and herd-immunity, an laid up in hospital, not making profits severity of infections in their area. It is not approach the World Health Organization for their employers and costing the state hard to see why the government preferred and others have described as dangerous, billions in healthcare, plus an unacceptably this option. Keep as many businesses unethical and unscientific. In socialism, we high death rate, the government open as possible and keep the number would simply follow the science to beat abandoned the idea and reluctantly went of furloughed workers to a minimum. a virus. In capitalism, nothing is ever so for a national lockdown. The fact that it was However, it has led to run-ins with some straightforward. implemented late likely led to thousands of the Northern local leaders. The most more deaths. notable one is with Andy Burnham, the Socialist Standard November 2020 3 Taiwan Strait. But since then China has wields the big stick on Earth is whoever’s been building anti-ship ballistic missiles got a sat-nav system in space. Today there IN SEPTEMBER the UK Defence Secretary that can sink a carrier from 1200 nautical are four navigational satellite systems in was forced to issue a public denial that miles away, which makes the UK’s new orbit, America’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS, the military was proposing to get rid of purchases look even more like shiny white China’s BeiDou and the EU’s Galileo. its stock of 227 Challenger 2 tanks, right elephants, especially as it doesn’t have Britain sank a lot of cash into Galileo after a government review suggested that the sailors to keep both of them at sea before being unceremoniously booted out very thing (BBC News, 12 September - bbc. simultaneously and only plans to buy of the partnership because of Brexit, thus in/35O4CTu). True-blue nationalists, in love enough F35 fighters for one of them (bit. scoring a massive own goal the Brexiteers with the idea of rolling over foreigners in ly/2RH4Jbc). certainly didn’t see coming. Other systems are emerging for India and Japan, and 60-ton behemoths, were understandably Galileo Launch upset at the prospect. But the truth is that more will follow. The idea of everyone the Challenger is outgunned and obsolete, sharing one single system for peaceful several times over. The larger truth is that purposes is of course silly idealistic the tank itself is an obsolete concept in an nonsense in a world of competitive age of armour-busting drones and long- markets. range missiles. Capitalism increasingly relies on Actually, most of Britain’s war satellites for all its communications and capability is obsolete, insofar as it exists financial transactions. Today there are at all. Years of budget cuts have reduced around 2,600 in orbit, but this is set to personnel and equipment to a fraction increase by at least an order of magnitude of their former strength. The air force as more countries and corporations heft has dropped to 119 fighters from 850 in their hardware aloft. SpaceX alone plans 1989 (dailym.ai/33NmVFN). The British to put around 42,000 satellites into orbit, navy has scrapped all its jets, and seen As so often with today’s political and in order to provide global internet access. its warship fleet decline from over 900 geopolitical scenarios, TV’s Yes Minister Pretty soon astronomers will barely be warships in 1944 to 115 by the time of got there first in the 1980s, on that able to see for space junk as everyone and the Falklands war and now to around occasion over the question of buying his dog scrambles to join the thousand- 24 (bit.ly/2ZTUN2F). In 2010 it was still Trident to replace Polaris missiles. ‘Trident mile-high club. patrolling Somali waters on a pirate hunt, is beautiful,’ declaims Humphrey Appleby, In light of all this it’s obvious that if now it can barely patrol UK waters, and ‘it’s the nuclear missile that Harrods would you want to take down a country, you has completely withdrawn from the sell. Of course we don’t need it, but you need to take out its satellites, thus a war South Atlantic, thus rendering the original could say that about anything at Harrods’ in space looks ever more likely. The US Falklands slaughter even more absurd. In (youtu.be/XyJh3qKjSMk). The purpose has since 2010 been experimenting with 2014 Russia parked an armed cruiser off of British defence policy, he explains for an uncrewed reusable space plane, the the coast of Scotland, causing red faces at the benefit of the naïve, is not to defend Boeing US X-37B, running highly secretive the Admiralty, as the navy’s only available Britain, because that’s impossible, but space flights of up to two years’ duration. warship was at Portsmouth. Later that only to make British people believe that India launched a prototype in 2016, and year, in the Islamic State crisis, the US and Britain is defended (youtu.be/9KId- the Chinese recently launched their own France sent aircraft carriers to the region, GgDcGk).
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