Many are aware of the International Working Men’s Association, the First International, in which Marx was an active participant. Fewer know of its precursor which most likely served as its prototype.

In September, 1845, the society of Fraternal Democrats was formed. It adopted motto, ‘All men are brethren.’ It was founded by some from the Chartist movement and political refugees from across Europe.

As part of its political platform, the Fraternal Democrats declared:

 “… that the earth with all its natural productions is the common property of all; we therefore denounce all infractions of this evidently just and natural law, as robbery and usurpation. We declare that the present state of society, which permits idlers and schemers to monopolise the fruits of the earth and the productions of industry, and compels the working classes to labour for inadequate rewards, and even condemns them to social slavery, destitution, and degradation, is essentially unjust.”

Next comes a declaration of internationalism:

 “Convinced that national prejudices have been, in all ages, taken advantage of by the people’s oppressors to set them tearing the throats of each other, when they should have been working together for their common good, this society repudiates the term ‘Foreigner,’ no matter by, or to whom applied. Our moral creed is to receive our fellow men, without regard to ‘country,’ as members of one family, the human race; and citizens of one commonwealth – the world.”

A prominent member George Julian Harney expressed this solidarity through the journal ‘Northern Star’

“The people are beginning to understand that foreign as well as domestic questions do affect them; that a blow struck at Liberty on the Tagus is an injury to the friends of Freedom on the Thames; that the success of Republicanism in France would be the doom of Tyranny in every other land; and the triumph of England’s democratic Charter would be the salvation of the millions throughout Europe.” “The Northern Star,” June 19, 1847.)

“But let the working men of Europe advance together and strike for their rights at one and the same time, and it will be seen – that every tyrannical government and usurping class will have enough to do at home without attempting to assist other oppressors.” “The Northern Star,” February 26, 1848.)

The Fraternal Democrats later disappeared but not its principles. The idea of working peoples’ international solidarity persisted.

The veteran Chartist, Ernest Jones, wrote as follows in “The People’s Paper” of February 17, 1855:

“Is there a poor and oppressed man in England? Is there a robbed and ruined artisan in France? Well, then, they appertain to one race, one country, one creed, one past, one present, and one future. The same with every nation, every colour, every section of the toiling world. Let them unite. The oppressors of humanity are united, even when they make war. They are united on one point that of keeping the peoples in misery and subjection … Each democracy, singly, may not be strong enough to break its own yoke; but together they give a moral weight, an added strength, that nothing can resist. The alliance of peoples is the more vital now, because their disunion, the rekindling of national antipathies, can alone save tottering royalty from its doom. Kings and oligarchs are playing their last card: we can prevent their game. No movement of modern times has therefore been of such importance, as that international alliance about to be proclaimed at a great gathering in St. Martin’s Hall.”

In another article in the “Peoples Paper”( March 3, 1855.), Ernest Jones, declared:

“Let none misunderstand the tenor of our meeting: we begin to-night no mere crusade against an aristocracy. We are not here to pull one tyranny down, only that another may live the stronger. We are against the tyranny of capital as well. The human race is divided between slaves and masters… Until labour commands capital, instead of capital commanding labour, I care not what political laws you make, what Republic or Monarchy you own – man is a slave.” 

Today, we have the World Socialist Movement, even though it still remains more an aspiration that a full reality.

A SONG ADDRESSED TO THE

FRATERNAL DEMOCRATS.



Air—”Auld Lang Syne”

All hail, Fraternal Democrats,

    Ye friends of Freedom hail,

Whose noble object is—that base

    Despotic power shall fail.



CHORUS ―

That mitres, thrones, misrule and wrong,

    Shall from this earth be hurled,

And peace, goodwill, and brotherhood,

    Extend throughout the world.



Associated to proclaim

    The equal rights of man.

Progression’s army! firm, resolved,

    On! forward lead the van.

        Till mitres, thrones, misrule and wrong,

            Shall from this earth be hurled.

        And peace, goodwill, and brotherhood,

            Extend throughout the world.



To aid this cause we here behold,

    British and French agree,

Spaniard and German, Swiss and Pole,

    With joy the day would see.

        When mitres, thrones, misrule, and wrong,

            Will from this earth be hurled,

        And peace, goodwill, and brotherhood,

            Extend throughout the world.



We now are met to celebrate

    The deeds of spirits brave,

Who struggled, fought, and bled, and died,

    Their misrul’d land to save.

        For mitres, thrones, misrule and wrong,

            From France they nobly hurled,

        And would have spread Democracy

            Throughout this sea-girt world.



Though kings and priests might then combine

    To crush sweet liberty,

We tell them now that they must bow,

    That man shall yet be free.

        That mitres, thrones, misrule and wrong,

            Shall from this earth be hurled,

        And peace, goodwill, and brotherhood,

            Extend throughout the world.



Oh! may that period soon arrive,

    When kings will cease to be,

And freedom and equality

    Extend from sea to sea.

        Then mitres, thrones, misrule and wrong,

            Will from this earth be hurled,

        And peace, goodwill, and brotherhood,

        Shall reign throughout the world.

John Arnott

 Unicef for the first time in its  history to has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK  help feed children hit by the Covid-19 crisis. Unicef  said the coronavirus pandemic was the most urgent crisis affecting children since the second world war.

In May the charity Food Foundation found 2.4 million children (17%) were living in food insecure households. By October, an extra 900,000 children had been registered for free school meals.

Anna Kettley, the director of programmes at Unicef UK, said: “This is Unicef’s first ever emergency response within the UK, introduced to tackle the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus crisis and reach the families most in need. This funding will help build stronger communities as the impact of the pandemics worsen, but ultimately a longer-term solution is needed to tackle the root causes of food poverty, so no child is left to go hungry.”

Unicef has pledged a grant of £25,000 to the community project School Food Matters, which will use the money to supply 18,000 nutritious breakfasts to 25 schools over the two-week Christmas holidays and February half-term, feeding vulnerable children and families in Southwark, south London, who have been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The food delivery firm Abel & Cole will also provide 1.2 tonnes of fruit and veg worth £4,500 to include in the boxes.

The founder and chief executive of School Food Matters, Stephanie Slater, said: “We’re so grateful to Unicef for providing this timely funding. The response to our summer breakfast boxes programme has shown us that families are really struggling and many were facing the grim reality of a two-week winter break without access to free school meals and the indignity of having to rely on food banks to feed their children. By providing our breakfast boxes, families know that their children will have a great start to the day with a healthy nutritious breakfast. Our breakfast boxes programme has also shown us that the threshold for free school meal eligibility is too low to capture all the families in need of support…”

Unicef to feed hungry children in UK for first time in 70-year history | Food poverty | The Guardian

 According to a report released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), “Research reveals consistent accounts of severe mental health conditions.”

Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-harm “among people of all ages and backgrounds” have emerged as byproducts of the hopelessness and despair after years of confinement and detention on Greece’s Aegean islands, Lesbos, Samos and Chios. One in three have contemplated suicide. One in five reported have  actually attempted to take their lives. As many as three out of four have experienced symptoms such as sleeping disorders, depression and anxiety. Over the year there has been a rise in the proportion of people disclosing psychotic symptoms, from one in seven to one in four. Disclosures of self-harm have increased by 66%.

 Psychologists concluded that the situation in the camps had worsened considerably since fires broke out in Lesbos displacing 13,000 refugees. 

The mental health toll had been aggravated by lockdown measures that had kept men, women and children confined to facilities.  The restrictions were stricter for refugees and migrants than those applied elsewhere in Greece, IRC support teams found a marked deterioration in the mental wellbeing of people in the camps since lockdowns were enforced.

Describing conditions in the camps as dangerous and inhumane, the IRC said residents were still denied access to sufficient water, sanitation, shelter and vital services such as healthcare, education and legal assistance to process asylum claims.

Kiki Michailidou, the psychologist in charge of the IRC’s psychosocial support programmes on Lesbos, pointed out, “After the fires we saw what could happen. There were transfers to the mainland and children were relocated to other parts of Europe. That’s proof that where there’s political will and coordinated action, the lives of people in these camps can be transformed.”

Thousands of refugees in mental health crisis after years on Greek islands | Global development | The Guardian

 Deal? No Deal? Bad Deal!

Narrow island in a turbulent sea

And islanders who think themselves ill matched

With the continent to which they’re attached

By bonds of geography and history.

Colour of the passport is of concern

It seems, blind pride when the flag is unfurled,

Rather than a clear vision of a world

Free for all, without boundaries to discern.

Surely time to look beyond Britannia,

See in common weal what capital lacks,

The country’s built on bent and beaten black backs

Triangulated out from Africa.

In Europe or out, the sovereign nation

Remains the keystone of exploitation.

D.A.

 Newham council,  one of the UK’s poorest boroughs, said its universal free school meals (USFM) scheme was no longer affordable as a result of funding cuts, leaving thousands of deprived youngsters at risk of missing out on a nutritious dinner.

The USFM, which has run for 11 years, guarantees all three- to 11-year-olds in the east London borough a free dinner during term time. The proposed cut would force thousands of families to contribute up to £270 a year for each of their children in years 3 to 6. 

Half of all children in Newham live in poverty, making it the second poorest borough in England after Tower Hamlets. Hunger is a growing problem in the borough during the pandemic, and already just under a quarter of Newham’s children are food insecure, meaning they regularly miss meals or go hungry. 

Sarah Ruiz, Newham council’s cabinet member for education and children social care, said the unprecedented economic situation facing the borough “leaves us with no choice but to look very carefully at how best to make the savings we need”.

 Ben Levinson, the headteacher at Kensington primary school in Newham, said the UFSM scheme had made a “life-changing” difference to the community, especially to children from struggling working families and migrant households, neither of whom were eligible for free school meals.

Free school meals scheme in one of UK’s poorest areas faces axe | School meals | The Guardian

Managing director of Kingspan’s insulation boards division and as a director of the plc, Peter Wilson will stand down.

Wilson was in charge of the insulation division since 2001, during which time it launched Kooltherm K15, a plastic foam insulation used on the Grenfell tower. Kingspan tested the foam in fire in 2005 and it passed, but then changed the chemical composition which made it more flammable, the public inquiry into the disaster heard. However, it continued to use the previous test pass and said it was safe for tall buildings.

Kingspan has an annual turnover of €3.5bn and its share price has fallen 15% in the last month. Shortly before evidence about Kingspan was revealed at the public inquiry, triggering a share price fall, Wilson sold share options worth £1.6m, sparking anger among bereaved and survivors. 

Gene Murtagh, the chief executive and Gilbert McCarthy, another director, also sold shares worth £3.1m and £1.8m respectively.

 The number of people in temporary accommodation, 253,000, in England is at its highest level in 14 years, says a new report by charity Shelter.

Shelter’s chief executive Polly Neate said: “Over a quarter of a million people – half of them children – are homeless and stuck in temporary accommodation. This should shame us all.” She explained that, “With this deadly virus on the loose, 2020 has taught us the value of a safe home like never before. But too many are going without, because of the chronic lack of social homes.”

 68% of all homeless people living in temporary accommodation are in London, which amounts to 1 in 52 of the city’s population. Outside of London, Luton has the highest rate of people in temporary accommodation (1 in 55), followed by Brighton and Hove (1 in 78), Manchester (1 in 93) and Birmingham (1 in 94).

More families ‘trapped in temporary accommodation’ in England – BBC News

 According to an analysis by the Washington Post, 45 of the 50 most highly valued U.S. companies have “turned a profit” in 2020. Despite their financial success, 27 of those firms cut staff this year, laying off more than 100,000.

Instead of using the wealth produced by workers to keep employees on payroll, corporations “put Americans out of work and used their profits to increase the wealth of shareholders,” the Post found. “Companies sent thousands of employees packing while sending billions of dollars to shareholders,” the Post noted. 

Walmart distributed more than $10 billion to its investors during the pandemic while laying off 1,200 corporate office employees. Walmart was not alone. Apple gave back tens of billions of dollars to shareholders. Apple spent $41 billion buying shares and paying cash dividends between April and September, more than twice as much as the company with the next highest total, Microsoft

Salesforce,  a company sitting on more than $9 billion in cash and short-term investments which generated $2.7 billion in profit during the first six months of the pandemic, its CEO Marc Benioff, was a signatory to the Business Roundtable’s 2019 statement on corporate purpose and a proponent of so-called stakeholder capitalism, is one of the executives who continued to prioritize the interests of shareholders in 2020 —laying off 1,000 workers despite a 28% increase in revenue compared to last year—even after promising not to do so during the pandemic’s early stages. Layoffs “were announced one day after the software giant announced its biggest quarter of profit and revenue in history, sending its stock soaring 30 percent.”

Gary Walker, a systems engineer who was one of 1,000 employees Salesforce laid off in late August, told the newspaper that “the choices that they make are governed by, essentially, maximizing shareholder value.”

Chuck Robbins, chief executive of Cisco, a $180 billion software and networking giant, said large companies like his shouldn’t lay off workers during a global crisis because, even in a bad year, they had the resources to maintain payrolls. Four months later, Cisco began implementing a plan to lay off thousands of employees.

“The majority of Americans who lost jobs this year were laid off from small businesses, many of which had no option but to cut workers to stave off financial collapse,” the Post noted. “But larger companies actually laid off a greater portion of their workforces over that period—9 percent for large firms vs. 7 percent for smaller firms—despite having more resources to survive the downturn.”

‘Sick’: Most Profitable US Companies Fired Workers, Enriched Shareholders During Pandemic | Common Dreams News

 Concerns over use of force and the deaths of black people in police custody had been a focus of Black Lives Matter 

Police use force against black people five times more frequently than against white people in England and Wales, new figures show. Officers in London used force against black people four times more than against white people 

A Home Office document said black people were “involved in proportionally more incidents” where police used guns and Tasers, as well as batons and ground restraint in the year to March. The rate was almost three times higher for people perceived as being from an “other” ethnic group.

Black people were also seven times more likely to be involved in incidents involving Tasers than white people outside London, and five times more in London. 

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said black men were disproportionately more likely to be arrested or have altercations with the police overall

Police five times more likely to use force against black people than white people in England and Wales | The Independent

 Unfounded accusations of criminality are a long-standing tool of racism and bigotry and such claims should be challenged.

In the United States Sociologists Michael Light, Jingying He, and Jason Robey used crime and immigration data from Texas from 2012 to 2018 to find that relative to undocumented immigrants thatU.S.-born citizens are:

2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes;

2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes; 

4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.

Trump’s Lies About Immigrants Should End With His Presidency | Common Dreams Views