Tyranny

The tyrant broods in his distant castle,

Plucking adversaries out of the air

To languish in the dungeons of his lair;

Every man, woman and child his vassal.

Yet, even at the zenith of his power,

Despots abroad with critical tongues

Will conceal their own by speaking his wrongs,

Each hoping to baulk their reckoning hour.

And secure they are while people can’t see

The chains that bind them to separate lands

Are being forged and re-forged by their own hands:

If they saw the links they might set themselves free.

What holds in thrall all working folk et al

Is the despotism of capital.

D.A.

It is well known that the United States provides substantial aid to Israel, the degree to which the Israeli military relies on U.S. planes, bombs, and missiles is not fully appreciated. 

According to statistics compiled by the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor, the United States has provided Israel with $63 billion in security assistance over the past two decades, more than 90 percent of it through the State Department’s Foreign Military Financing, which provides funds to buy U.S. weaponry.  

But Washington’s support for the Israeli state goes back much further. Total U.S. military and economic aid to Israel exceeds $236 billion (in inflation-adjusted 2018 dollars) since its founding — nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars.

Selling Death – Consortiumnews

 As Japan’s population continues to drop, with just 14.93 million children aged 14 or younger on April 1, a decline of 190,000 on the same date a year ago and the lowest annual figure since 1950, household pets are on the rise.

There are some 20 million cats and dogs registered across the country, and an additional 60,000 pets joined households in 2020.

“They are willing to spend money on giving them the best food available,” Chris Dunn, an executive of the Japan branch of the Pet Planet food company said.

Many pet owners in Japan come from middle-to-high-income households, so the surge in pet sales has been followed by the emergence of a bewildering array of accessories for animals.  Pet shops in Japan often stock a diverse range of clothing for dogs, from rainwear to fancy dress outfits. In addition to leashes, collars, toys and animal beds, the most popular products are strollers for taking pets to the park. 

Dunn believes that the biggest reason why people in Japan are buying pets is for psychological support, whether they are doing so consciously or not.

Japan: Are pets replacing children during the pandemic? | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 26.05.2021

The IPPR thinktank shows the UK’s poverty rate among working households last year reached a record high for this century.

Working people have come under increasing financial pressure during the last 25 years from soaring property prices, private sector rent hikes and crippling childcare costs.

An increase in relative poverty from 13% in 1996 to 17.4% of working households in the year to March 2020 illustrates the combination of low wage rises and the spiralling cost of living.  Since 2010 the situation has deteriorated steadily to leave working families at the highest risk of falling into poverty since the welfare system was at its most adequate in 2004.

 The report said four factors lay behind the growth in poverty:

Spiralling housing costs among low-income households.

Low wages and modest pay rises.

A social security system that has failed to keep up with rental costs.

A lack of flexible and affordable childcare.

 For more than 50 years, Interstate 81 has cut through the heart of hard-luck Syracuse, New York, raining vehicle exhaust on its Southside neighborhood, where most residents are Black and poor. Road builders at the time were largely free to ignore environmental, historical, social or other factors, allowing them to focus on the most direct route from one point to another. More often than not, that meant routing those freeways through Black neighborhoods, where land was cheap and political opposition low. 

“When they put that highway up they destroyed this community,” said David Rufus, a lifelong Southside resident who is now an organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). 

Black neighborhoods were targeted even when more logical routes were available, research by the late urban historian Raymond Mohl shows. Existing long-distance highways, like the New York State Thruway, largely skirted city centers. The new interstates were built right through them.

Syracuse wasn’t the only city where Black residents were displaced by the U.S. freeway-building boom of the 1950s and 1960s. Across the country, local officials saw the proposed interstate system as a convenient way to demolish what they regarded as “slum” neighborhoods near their downtown business districts, historians say. With the federal government picking up 90% of the cost, freeway construction made it easier for politicians and business leaders to pursue their own “urban renewal” projects after residents were evicted.

University of California, Irvine law professor Joseph DiMento, an expert in the policies of the freeway-building era, explains, “The reasons they were built were heavily for removal of Blacks from certain areas.”

*In Miami, Interstate 95 was routed through Overtown, a Black neighborhood known as the “Harlem of the South,” rather than a nearby abandoned rail corridor.

*In Nashville, Interstate 40 took a noticeable swerve, bisecting the Black community of North Nashville.

*In Montgomery, Alabama, the state highway director, a high-level officer of the Ku Klux Klan, routed Interstate 85 through a neighborhood where many Black civil rights leaders lived, rather than choosing an alternate route on vacant land.

*In New Orleans and Kansas City, officials re-routed freeways from white neighborhoods to integrated or predominantly Black areas.

The road-building program ultimately displaced more than 1 million Americans, most of them low-income minorities, according to Anthony Foxx, former transportation secretary under Obama.

U.S. freeways flattened Black neighborhoods nationwide (trust.org)

 Hassan Jabareen, the general director of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, declared that a massive arrest operation of  Palestinian citizens of Israel for their participation in support of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the besieged Gaza is a “militarised war against Palestinian citizens of Israel.” 

Israeli police announced they will penalise those who have taken part in demonstrations against settler violence, the Israeli forces’ crackdown on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and the IDF’s bombing of Gaza.

Israeli police said some 1,550 people have already been arrested since May 9 and the campaign is a “continuation” that aims to “prosecute” demonstrators who have over the past two weeks taken to the streets in towns and cities across Israel.

 Now, thousands of security forces from “all units” will be deployed to carry out raids, it said, in towns and cities predominantly inhabited by Palestinian citizens of Israel. Police, border guards and reserve brigades will search homes and conduct “investigations.” 

Janan Abdu, a Haifa-based lawyer with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, pointed out that, “These are not just police forces but also include special units – border police, secret services and undercover forces.” She continued, “They treat their citizens as an enemy. There has always been two systems: one for Arabs and one for the Jews.” 

The purpose of the arrests is to “intimidate and to exact revenge on Palestinian citizens of Israel – ‘to settle the score’ with Palestinians, in the Israeli police’s own words – for their political positions and activities”, Hassan Jabareen said. 

 Rallies were held in cities including Haifa, Yafa, Lydd and Nazareth in solidarity with Palestinian families facing forced expulsion from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and following Jewish-Israeli attack on worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have long been discriminated against.

 Majd Kayyal, a Haifa-based activist, said, “We need to start a new chapter as Palestinians inside Israel. We need to rip apart and dismantle Israel’s fragmentation policy.” he said. “Our fight as Palestinian citizens of Israel is a part of the collective fight of the Palestinian people against Israel’s settler-colonial project.”

‘A war declaration’: Palestinians in Israel decry mass arrests | Al-Aqsa Mosque News | Al Jazeera

 Although it dates from the 1950s, this article puts the case against the lesser evil argument rather well and still remains relevant today.

Critics of the Labour Government are rapidly increasing in number. With daily increases in the cost of living, whilst wages climb at tortoise pace in pursuit; with the ever growing threat of war and the prospect of devastating atomic warfare; with some essential foodstuffs and other commodities being rationed down to infinitesimal quantities, the Labour Government stands accused of being the cause of it all. That is the fate of all politicians who undertake the job of capitalist government. The government of the day, whether it be Conservative, Liberal Labour or Coalition, always bears the brunt of criticism for the prevailing bad conditions. Socialists do not subscribe to this idea. They do not claim that the problems that confront the workers today arise because of the Labour Government, but rather, in spite of a Labour Government. These problems arise from the capitalist society in which we live and governments are powerless to prevent them.

This does not mean that a government has no power to affect the prevailing conditions. The outbreak of war may be advanced or postponed by a particular government policy. Governmental action can cause the meat ration to be increased or it can cause it to dwindle to an even less amount. One government might cause a few more houses to be built than would another or one government might impose import duties where another would remove them. One could introduce harsh anti-working-class legislation whilst another could repeal it. Although a capitalist government can modify, amend, adjust and generally tinker around with the problems that confront it, it is powerless to remove them.

Amongst the critics of the Labour Party are many erstwhile staunch supporters whose votes help to put that party in power. It is not in the least unusual these days to hear Labour Party supporters vehemently denouncing the government for doing things that should have been left undone and not doing things that should be done. They will readily admit the shortcomings of Labour ministers and oppose the Labour Government’s policy. They will agree that socialism is the only solution to working class problems, but—BUT—as it is not possible to establish immediately they intend to support the lesser of two evils, the Labour Party in preference to the Conservatives. “The lesser of two evils”—how often the workers have been hoodwinked by that notion! As though one capitalist political party was even a little bit preferable to another. As though there is anything to chose between them as far as the workers are concerned. As the Irishman is reputed to have said, “The only difference between them is that they are all alike.” Looking back over the years of working class struggle, under all kinds of governments, should be sufficient evidence that the workers’ position is not altered whenever there is a change of government Giving the workers the choice of two political parties, each competing for the job of administering capitalism, is like giving the Christmas goose the choice of being roasted or boiled.

If it were true that one particular party was likely to be less harmful to working class interests than another, there is still no means of telling which one it is. The German workers in 1932 selected what they considered to be the lesser evil when they elected Hindenburg as president in preference to his opponent. Hitler. But a year later Hindenburg appointed Hitler to the chancellorship of Germany and the German workers had both evils to contend with. After nearly 30 years of Labour Government in New Zealand the workers there have apparently come to the conclusion that there is a lesser evil than the Labour Government and have kicked it out. Working class supporters of the Conservative Party will, of course, claim that their party is the lesser evil. The fact of the matter is, that all capitalist governments are evils from the viewpoint of the working class, and the minor differences that exist between them are reflections of the sectional interests of the capitalist class. The promises, plans and programmes that they present at election times are only possible of fulfilment if the capitalist system allows. Whether a particular government smites the workers with a velvet gloved hand or a mailed fist depends on the capitalist needs of the moment. In times of crisis for the capitalist class it will be as ruthless with its workers as it dares and the government then in office will have to do the dirty work. If a government is at all inclined to leniency in favour of the workers, all the might of the combined sections of the capitalist class will be turned to achieve that government’s destruction. But as Labour Parties, like Conservative Parties, are parties of capitalism, they can be relied upon to serve capitalist interests in opposition to the workers. If capital needs increased production, it is the job of the existing government to see that it is increased; if capital wants wages frozen, it is the task of the government to put them in the refrigerator; if capital is forced to fight for its fields for investment and its markets, it is the job of the government to whip up the workers and send them off to kill or be killed; and if the workers embarrass capital by striking, it is the job of the government to use the troops that it controls to “preserve law and order.”

International capital will drag governments around by their ears. The Rumanian Government, just before the last world war, was re-shuffled a number of times first at the dictates of German capitalism then at the dictates of British. The members of the political organisation known as the Iron Guard were first taken into the Rumanian Government, then turned out and later brought in again. The British Government is now leaning heavily on American Capitalism. The British army will operate under an American general and the British Atlantic fleet will take its orders from an American admiral. Because American capital wills it. Just as, where British capital holds sway, there can be found native armies officered by Britons. No matter what the politicians may say, the position would not be seriously altered if any other party formed the government.

Socialism is the solution to the workers’ problems and until they establish socialism they will have to put up with capitalism and all its attendant evils. The great need is to convince the workers of the necessity for socialism and that will not be done by telling them to support a capitalist party because it is considered to be a “ lesser evil ” than some other party. By that means they will be giving support to the capitalist class to prolong this system and delay the establishment of socialism. By supporting the capitalist parties the workers are forming the tail-end of capitalist politics. Those who urge them to do that and betraying working class interests.

The workers must be urged to break completely with the political parties of capitalism, whether openly pro-capitalist like the Conservatives or avowedly pro-labour like the Labour Party. They must be brought to realise that they must join a political party, separate from and opposed to the capitalist parties. Socialism is an immediate necessity. As long as capitalism lasts there will be wars, poverty, insecurity and all the rest of the evils that flow from this system. There is no “lesser evil ” to be found by supporting any one of the capitalist parties in preference to another.

If a man is robbed by two thieves, it is in his interest to regain his property, not to take sides with one thief or the other in their differences about the share-out of their loot, even if one of them has got a kind-looking face. When he tries to get his stolen property back he will soon find that the two robbers will sink their differences and gang up to prevent him recovering his goods. They will both be vicious and he must oppose the two of them or else find himself “between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

W. Waters

hat-tip to

ALB and Darren at

Socialist Standard Past & Present (socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com)

Applying for asylum at international borders is a legal right guaranteed by the U.N. Convention on Refugees (to which the United States is a signatory) and the U.S. Refugee Act.

Since Biden took office, right–wing outlets have run non–stop sensationalist border stories depicting liberals as​“soft” on immigration. Such propaganda distracts from the very real plight of asylum seekers and the vulnerable families who are trying to build better lives for themselves are depicted as a security threat to the  United States, rather than the media garnering sympathy for those desperate people from the U.S. public.

Biden frequently talks about his humanity towards the migrants at the border but his actual actions have differed little from Trump’s. Biden has reopened migrant youth detention centres. Families who arrive at the border are denied entry, but unaccompanied minors pass through — tantamount to separating families on the Mexico side of the border, rather than changing the policy. Biden continued to apply Title 42, a public health statute, first used by Trump to expel migrants under a cynical pretext of controlling Covid-19. And before indignant grassroot Democrats forced him to back down, Biden also intended to maintain Trump’s low cap on refugees.

 There are tens of thousands of people in rough and ready makeshift camps on the Mexico side of the border exposed to the weather and to those criminal elements seeking to take advantage of them.

Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala have deployed 18,500 troops to stem migration from Central American countries at the behest of the United States to deter the migrant caravans. The United States imposed unequal trade agreements that privilege U.S. business interests over the well-being of local Central American.  The United States has legitimized and validated corrupt governments such as Honduras and the Hernández 

Our blog highlighted the dishonest propaganda attempts by the right-wing to use our environment crisis to scape-goat migrants, here, here and here.

The Guardian carries another similar story. 

Mark Brnovich, Arizona’s Republican attorney general, in a lawsuit demands the reinstatement of Donald Trump’s immigration policies to help remedy the “pollution and stress on natural resources” caused by migrants who move to the US.

Another, the Negative Population Growth, launched a campaign aimed at the “complete elimination of illegal and quasi-legal immigration and reduction of current legal immigration by 80%” in order to slash planet-heating emissions.

Betsy Hartmann, an academic at Hampshire College who specializes in the environment and migration, said she was “very concerned this will be used by far-right groups to fuel hatred. It has become a sort of conventional wisdom now, which poses a real danger.”

In the US, the most prominent voices linking environmentalism with anti-immigration has been the web of groups dubbed the Tanton network, named after John Tanton, an ophthalmologist from Michigan who was once active in the Sierra Club and died in 2019. The Center for Immigration Studies, one of these groups, has welcomed Brnovich’s lawsuit.

 France’s far-right National Rally party has declared that “borders are the environment’s greatest ally; it is through them that we will save the planet”.  In Germany, the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany has warned the country’s environment faces “a great danger” if it allows in more migrants.

According to some scientists, blaming migrants for the unfolding climate and biodiversity crises stokes resentment and obscures more important causes such as overconsumption by the world’s wealthiest 10%  who produce around half of all consumption-based emissions, while the poorest half of humanity contributes only 10% – and the entrenched power of fossil fuel companies and their political allies.

Environmental groups have now largely moved away from talking about overpopulation to focus on these other themes. “In the environmental community, it has become a bit of a third-rail issue. It’s very difficult to talk about,” said Dale Jamieson, a professor of environmental studies and philosophy at New York University. Jamieson added: “But if you’re trying to hang environmental concerns on to an anti-immigration agenda, that is so transparent, it’s just not sincere.

He goes on to explain that “When it comes to problems like climate change, nationalism is the problem, not the solution. Ecological boundaries do not care about national boundaries so trying to solve climate change within one nation-state is not an effective way of doing things.”

Right seizes Trump playbook to blame migrants for environmental harm | Population | The Guardian

 “There is no diplomatic way to say it: A small group of countries that make and buy the majority of the world’s vaccines controls the fate of the rest of the world.” – WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

More than 75% of all vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries.

There is simply “not enough supply” globally, which means that “countries that vaccinate children and other low-risk groups now do so at the expense of health workers and high-risk groups in other countries,” said Tedros. “That’s the reality.”

“Several manufacturers have said they have capacity to produce vaccines if the originator companies are willing to share licenses, technology, and know-how,” said Tedros. “I find it difficult to understand why this has not happened yet.” [He understands full well but won’t say – profits. Especially now it is clear that booster shots will have to be given for the perceivable future, more income for Big Pharma.]

Tedros added, “the only choice we have is between cooperation and insecurity.”

WHO Chief Decries ‘Scandalous’ Vaccine Inequality Where Rich Nations Control ‘Fate of the World’ | Common Dreams News