One couldn’t have but noticed that in the build-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine peace talk was the harbinger of the war. The louder and more the politicians and statesmen talked, the nearer war approached. When governments are proclaiming their peaceful intentions one can be sure that a war is in the offing.

The prospect of war with its slaughter and suffering is, undoubtedly, vile and revolting. It is understandable that any human being should brand it as immoral and seek to oppose it. But an enemy is always portrayed as despicable and diabolical, while atrocity tales of barbarism are circulated and the enemy is proclaimed the enemy of all decency and of all civilisation in general. Russia’s leader, Putin, has been characterised as the violator of all that peace-loving people hold dear. 

Widespread opposition to war will not, and cannot arise from sentimentalism and emotionalism. It must have its roots in an understanding of what causes war, the purposes for which wars are fought and a recognition of worldwide class interests, irrespective of nationality, language, colour, sex or any other sectional division. Workers must understand that they have a common interest with those whom they are sent to kill and that the real enemy is the social class that sends them to do the killing, then there is a prospect of an end to war. Until then, peace activists will no more stop future wars than it has staved them off in the past.

For years the Socialist Party has had to put up with the apathy or wrongly directed zeal of the great majority and has been trying to get the workers of all countries to realise that, without a fundamentally different and better basis for the social system, there never would be or could be any safeguard against war. But we who were engaged in the campaign of showing the only way of escape were not listened to. We had to put up with the people who were “not interested in politics,” or who thought they knew of short cuts or easier ways.

There have been active peace movements in all parts of the world, organising petitions and protests. Never in all their previous history have these activities been so amply demonstrated to be absolutely futile and impotent as at the present day to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Their efforts are misdirected and quite useless. The capitalist juggernaut lurches onwards, unheeding to the inevitable clashes, pitting worker against worker in ineffectual and ghastly conflict. The peace activists call attention to the evils of war (of, which we all are already painfully aware) but stop short of unearthing the cause, i.e., capitalist competition between the nations for trade routes, markets and sources of raw materials. The solution follows logically, i.e. a worldwide movement by the workers for the establishment of a worldwide socialist society.

Wars between nations is occasioned by the struggle for markets and for the possession of regions rich in mineral wealth, while the present competitive system remains inevitable. It cannot be attributed to human weakness, and cannot, therefore, be removed by appeals, however eloquent, to the “better nature” of the peoples of the world. 

Our attitude to war, the Socialist Party’s attitude, is one of uncompromising opposition because we contend that the workers have a common interest against the world capitalist class, and have nothing to gain by partaking in the quarrels of the latter, which are only possible with the continuance of exploitation.

The political leaders who served their masters by opposing any ceasefire to the war until the foe had been vanquished are right in one thing. Conflicts are not settled by equitable negotiation but only when one or the other is prepared to yield, or when the object of each has become unattainable. Those in the peace movement – unless seeking the overthrow of capitalism—are in the position of accepting the competitive social system which necessarily breeds bitter rivalries and of thinking at the same time that the rivalries can be settled by amicable discussion at the council table.

Modern war is fought to settle the squabbles of capitalism’s master class; it does not involve the interests of the ordinary people except that it brings them nothing but suffering. If the working class refuse to fight—as we say they should—it should be on these grounds—and this should apply to all war, not just to the Ukraine war. To the workers who understand their position in society, it is a matter of indifference which section of the international master class wins or loses, for it will be the workers of both sides who lose their lives or gain nothing if they survive.

The Socialist Party advocates the organisation of the working class for the capture of the political machinery in order that a new social order may be established in which the means of life will be owned in common by all and in which therefore there will be no need for the forcible protection of property and the slaughter of millions of producers in order to decide which bunch of parasites shall control the trade routes and markets of the world.

 Between March and May, pay excluding bonuses was down 2.8% from a year earlier when adjusted for inflation – the fastest drop since records began. Pay including bonuses was down 0.9% when adjusted for inflation.

 Climate scientists are  increasingly concerned that extreme heatwaves in Europe are occurring more rapidly than models had suggested, indicating that the climate crisis on the European continent may be even worse than feared. Temperature records are usually broken by fractions of a degree, but the 40.2C recorded at Heathrow is 1.5C higher than the previous UK record of 38.7C recorded in 2019 in Cambridge. They say the latest record showed that slashing carbon emissions, and rapidly upgrading the UK’s overheating homes and buildings, was more urgent than ever.

The role of human-caused global heating appears clear, as the scientists estimated that chances of breaking 40C in the UK without it would be less than 0.1%. Dr Friederike Otto at Imperial College London said 40C “would have been extremely unlikely or virtually impossible without human-caused climate change”. Otto added: “While still rare, 40C is now a reality of British summers.”

“Climate change is driving this heatwave, just as it is driving every heatwave now,” she said. “Greenhouse gas emissions, from burning fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil, are making heatwaves hotter, longer-lasting and more frequent.” 

Prof Hannah Cloke, at the University of Reading, said: “The all-time temperature record for the UK has not just been broken, it has been absolutely obliterated. Even as a climate scientist who studies this stuff, this is scary.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see this [40C] in my career,” said Prof Stephen Belcher, at the Met Office.

Climate action remained vital, said Otto: “Heatwaves will keep getting worse until greenhouse gas emissions are halted. It is also in our hands whether every future heatwave will continue to be extremely deadly and disruptive,” she said. “We have the agency to make us less vulnerable and redesign our cities, homes, schools and hospitals and educate us on how to keep safe.”

Day of 40C shocks scientists as UK heat record ‘absolutely obliterated’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian

 More than 37 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with diabetes. The disease can damage organs, eyesight, and limbs if left unmanaged and is the country’s seventh leading cause of death.

Just three pharmaceutical corporations control the nation’s lucrative insulin market, the century-old drug can cost a person without adequate health insurance more than $300 per vial. Insulin prices in the U.S.—seven times higher than those found in peer countries—are so steep that experts have accused the federal government and pharmaceutical industry of violating human rights. A quarter of people with diabetes have to ration insulin to survive in the U.S.A.

Legislation passed by the House and considered by the Senate last year included language that would have made all insulin products subject to Medicare price negotiation and that would have capped Medicare beneficiaries’ insulin copays at $35 per month.

Both provisions have been left out of the latest draft of the bill released by the Senate Finance Committee, however.

Excluding Insulin From Drug Price Reform a ‘Slap in the Face,’ Advocates Say (commondreams.org)

“Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most indubitable meaning is nothing but an instrument for the attainment of the government’s ambitious and mercenary, aims, and a renunciation of. human dignity. common sense. and conscience by!the governed, and a slavish submission to those who hold-power, That is what is really preached wherever patriotism is championed. Patriotism is slavery.” – Leo Tolstoy

We do not deny the sincerity of many peace campaigners and can see that the energy and ingenuity they displayed in tackling a job they considered important provided further proof that once working men and women get on the right track capitalism’s days are numbered.  People in the peace movement would no doubt claim that all politicians are evil, completely insincere persons. But what they have in common is the simple fact that they all support the capitalist system of society. They have different ideas about how it should be run but all are agreed on this essential point.  Unfortunately without the necessary understanding of capitalist society, organisations like the Stop the War Coalition will continue to make mistaken claims, based as they are on irrational ideas about the social and economic forces at work in society today. The vote, when based on sound socialist knowledge and used to send delegates to Parliament as opposed to opportunistic leaders, can be the most useful instrument the workers possess.

Under capitalism, we have a world which is divided into rival and competing nations, which struggle with each other over the control of markets, trade routes and natural resources. It is this struggle which brings nations into armed conflict with each other because militarism is the violent extension of the economic policies of propertied interests. War cannot be isolated from the economic relationships of production or the general object of capitalist production, which is to advance the interests of those privileged class minorities who monopolise the whole process of production. It follows that no working class of any country has any stake or interest in war, and we have always said that workers should never support war. Our stand in the Socialist Party since it was established has been to oppose every war. Armed with this understanding of the cause of war we are committed to working politically with workers of all countries to establish world socialism because that is where the interest of the working class lies. We have never participated in the hideous cause of capitalism at war.

Amid the most extreme pro-war jingoism and hysteria, when nationalistic patriotism is prevalent across the whole population to support the war, the Socialist Party sent out this message. “Having no quarrel with the working class of any country, we extend to our fellow workers of all lands, the expression of our goodwill and socialist fraternity, and pledge ourselves to work for the overthrow of capitalism and the triumph of socialism.”  In all wars the Socialist Party sends out this inspiring message of fraternal goodwill.

We are saying that socialism is the only guarantee that war will not take place because it will completely remove the cause of war. But we are saying more than this. All the time capitalism exists, war will remain because the threat of military force, and its use, is a necessary instrument of vested economic interests. All the facts of modern history show that this is why governments maintain vast “defence” expenditures, including the cost of nuclear weapons. It follows then that activity to get rid of war must essentially be the activity to get rid of capitalism.

Think back to past wars democracy and the conduct of war are anathema to each other. The first casualty of war is democracy. It must be obvious to anyone who is not politically naive, that no government undertaking or treaty has ever been kept for longer than it was expedient to do so.

If peace movements continue to support capitalism they must be responsible for all the ways in which capitalism develops. Because capitalism cannot be controlled in the human interest, we do not know all the ways in which it will develop. We invite members of all anti-war groups to join with us now in building a better world. They must build on the concern and indignation and broaden their horizons. They should not place their faith in governments; that is a sure recipe for disaster and disillusion. We must not make pathetic appeals to governments to do something on our behalf. We must take the world into our own hands.

FAT CATS GET FATTER

In 2022’s quarter one, the Federal Reserve’s “Distributional Financial Accounts” show:

 America’s top 1 percent held 31.8 percent of the nation’s wealth. 

The nation’s bottom half held 2.8 percent.

Back in 1980 fewer than 0.005 percent of America’s adults held over 1,000 times the nation’s median household wealth. 

By 2020, the ranks of that wealth cohort had quintupled. 

In 1983, not a single American held a fortune that equaled 100,000 times the nation’s median household wealth. 

In 2021, slightly over 50 Americans exceeded that threshold, and two Americans actually held over a million times the wealth of America’s most typical households.

Does the Future Belong to People Who Profit Off Our ‘Excessive Wealth Disorder’? – CounterPunch.org

Russian police have detained the journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who in March interrupted a live television broadcast to denounce the military action in Ukraine.

On Friday, Ovsyannikova posted photos of herself on Telegram showing her near the Kremlin and carrying a protest placard raising the deaths of children and denouncing Putin as a “killer”.

Russian journalist who staged TV protest over Ukraine invasion arrested again | Russia | The Guardian

 “It’s like the Trump years with a smile,” said the Palestinian official, who requested anonymity.

 The gap in education outcomes between poor children and others is far too wide, says Education Policy Institute (EPI), a policy thinktank.

Its study found that in 2019, prior to the pandemic, the gap between poorer pupils and their peers was 22-23 months in Wales and about 18 months in England.

In Wales, the largest disadvantage gaps by area were as big as 25-28 months, the EPI found. In England, the largest attainment gap, of about 25 months, was found in Blackpool.

Pupils living with long-term and persistent poverty are even further behind their peers in both countries. In England, the persistent disadvantage gap was equal to about 23 months of learning, while in Wales it was 29 months. There has been almost no improvement in this measure over the last decade. 

Pupils from poorer backgrounds were much less likely to reach the top quintile of GCSE scores and more likely to be in the bottom quintile across both nations. 

Luke Sibieta, an EPI research fellow, said, “Policymakers in both countries need to redouble their attempts to give poorer children a better chance in life…”

Poorer pupils in England and Wales lag ‘significantly’ behind, report finds | Poverty | The Guardian

  Oxfam International estimated Monday that a mere two weeks of wealth gains recently secured by global food billionaires would be enough to fully fund the United Nations’ multibillion-dollar effort to combat hunger in East Africa, where soaring commodity prices are intensifying food insecurity and pushing poverty to new extremes.

“Food inflation in East African countries where tens of millions of people are caught in an alarming hunger crisis has increased sharply, reaching a staggering 44% in Ethiopia—nearly five times the global average,” Oxfam said in a new analysis published amid a worsening global hunger emergency.

“It is estimated that one person is dying every 48 seconds in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia alone, where the worst drought in decades is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and is pushing food prices to skyrocketing levels,” the organization said. “Against this backdrop, food billionaires have increased their collective wealth by $382 billionaire since 2020.”

“Less than two weeks’ worth of their wealth gains,” the group calculated, “would be more than enough to fund the entirety of the U.N.’s $6.2 billion humanitarian appeal for East Africa. The appeal is currently woefully funded at merely 16%.”

Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam’s food policy lead, said that “a monstrous amount of wealth is being captured at the top of our global food supply chains, meanwhile rising food prices contribute to a growing catastrophe which is leaving millions of people unable to feed themselves and their families. World leaders are sleepwalking into a humanitarian disaster,” Saarinen warned. “This fundamentally broken global food system—one that is exploitative, extractive, poorly regulated, and largely in the hands of big agribusinesses—is becoming unsustainable for people and the planet and is pushing millions in East Africa and worldwide to starvation.”

Oxfam argued there are a number of steps rich countries can take to help East African nations avert disaster, including canceling their surging debt burdens and taxing the rich to adequately fund humanitarian relief efforts.

“We need to reimagine a new global food system to really end hunger; one that works for everyone,” said Saarinen. “Governments can and must mobilize enough resources to prevent human suffering. One good option would be to tax the mega-rich who have seen their wealth soar to record levels during the past two years.”

“There have been 62 food billionaires created in the last two years,” Oxfam found, pointing to the global food corporation Cargill—one of a handful of businesses that collectively control more than 70% of the worldwide market for agricultural commodities—as a striking case in point.

Cargill is “87% owned by the 11th richest family in the world,” Oxfam observed. “The combined wealth of family members listed on the Forbes billionaire list is $42.9 billion—and their wealth has increased by $14.4 billion (65%) since 2020, growing by almost $20 million per day during the pandemic. This has been driven by rising food prices, especially for grains. Four more members of the extended Cargill family have recently joined the list of the richest 500 people in the world.”

Just Two Weeks of Food Billionaire Wealth Gains Could Fund Anti-Hunger Effort in East Africa (commondreams.org)