In the Irish Republic there were 307 anti-migrant protests in 2022, while in 2023 there have already been 64 demonstrations. The far-right protest outside asylum reception cases, scaring and intimidating the people inside, including families.

Niall McConnell, leader of the Irish Nationalist Catholic Party, claims “The indigenous Irish are being racially discriminated against.” In reference to England’s colonisation of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries, where land was seized and settlers were brought in to ‘anglicise’ the local population, McConnell asserts, “History is repeating itself. The blood of our holy martyrs seeps the Irish soil. The indigenous Irish will continue in our ancestors’ footsteps. We will oppose this new plantation as they did in the past. God save Ireland.” he continued, “Any resources available in Ireland should be given to the indigenous Irish people first,” suggesting free housing, social welfare, health care and education should be taken away for migrants.

Aoife Gallagher, an analyst at ISD Global thinktank pointed out that, “The far right has been able to rally support by tapping into people’s very real grievances”. Anti-migrant protests have been most common in “ignored and deprived” areas, says researcher Aoife Gallagher – which also happens to be where asylum-seekers are disproportionately housed. “The far right is a mixture of the reactionary forces in response to these liberal changes in the country… and the old school Catholic conservatives,” she said. The far-right is ultimately a byproduct of Ireland’s failed political system that has failed to get to grips with the multi-pronged crisis gripping the country, claims Gallagher.

Brian Killoran of the Immigrant Council, links the growth of the far right to several crises gripping Ireland, including a housing emergency and crumbling health services, traced back to the 2008 recession and the period of austerity that followed.

“The far right is a lightning rod,” he explained. “They are harnessing dissatisfaction in communities and blaming migrants when actually there are much bigger structural problems.” He said the movement was losing sight of the “bigger picture” and proposing “simplistic and short-term solutions”.

Attitudes towards immigrants in Ireland are among the least positive in Europe. Among Irish-born adults, some 58% support white foreigners moving to the country, but only 41% for Muslims and 25% for Roma people, according to a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

‘Keep Ireland Irish’: Say hello to Ireland’s growing far right (yahoo.com)

 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  there is a humanitarian crisis that regional and international powers have allowed to fester. It has led to people abandoning their homes because of fighting between the M23 rebel group and the government last month. According to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 800,000 people have now been displaced by the conflict since last March.

Failed attempts to secure a ceasefire have allowed fighting to continue unabated between M23 and government troops in a region already scarred by the presence of dozens of armed groups.

Angele Dikongue-Atangana, the UNHCR’s representative in DRC explained, “We need peace so that civilians stop being collateral damage of the conflict, and so that forced displacement in eastern DRC ends.”

Emmanuel Lampaert, the DRC coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières in central Africa, said the conflict has created a heavy humanitarian burden.

“It’s the same places, the same filthy conditions. Families living in self-made small settlements, unworthy, inhuman,” Lampaert said. “…Suddenly, after one year, they’re saying they want to stop this crisis being forgotten. My question is, where the hell have you been?” he said.

 Thomas Fessy, a senior DRC researcher for Human Rights Watch, said M23 had left behind a “trail of war crimes”.

“We’ve documented horrific crimes that M23 rebels committed against civilians, including summary executions and forced recruitment,” he said. “The warring parties have increasingly appealed to ethnic loyalties, putting civilians in remote areas of Masisi and Rutshuru at a heightened risk, and pitting communities against each other.”

Jean-Mobert Senga, a researcher for Amnesty International in DRC, said the violence could worsen this year. “No one seems concerned with addressing the real causes and drivers of the conflict, including widespread impunity for serious atrocities committed in the DRC for nearly 30 years, endemic corruption, or poor governance in the DRC.

“The focus on the M23, which is just one of hundreds of armed groups that kill, rape and loot every day, is proof of the cynical approach in eastern DRC that only prolongs the suffering of millions of men, women and children on the frontlines of the conflict.”

UNHCR has asked for $233m (£192m) to support its work, but only 8% has been pledged.

‘Trail of war crimes’ left by DRC rebel group as recent attacks leave 300,000 displaced | Global development | The Guardian

 As the cost-of-living crisis impacts British households, many are cutting down on food while living in cold homes, according to the latest findings from the ‘Which?’ consumer insight tracker.

The monthly survey commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) revealed that 8.1% of households missed a housing, bill, loan or credit card payment in February. One in seven people (15%) said they had skipped meals due to rising costs.

Just over a quarter (27%) said they had gone without some foods, up from 21% in November. Meanwhile, 9% had prioritized meals for other family members above themselves, and 4% had used a food bank.

Nearly 60% of households reported making at least one adjustment to cover essential spending such as utility bills, housing costs, groceries, school supplies and medicines in the last month. According to the report, adjustments include cutting back on essentials, dipping into savings, selling possessions and borrowing.

Consumers have also been looking for ways to save on their energy bills, with seven out of ten (72%) saying they have turned down the heating due to spiraling costs, while 39% having used less hot water and 19% having had fewer cooked meals.

“Whilst the majority of consumers have used the heating less due to price rises, this behavior will be more extreme in some households than others. Whilst some may be able to save money on heating whilst still keeping their house sufficiently warm, others will not,” the report said.

Three in ten (29%) of those who reportedly reduced their heating said they have often or always felt in physical discomfort this winter as a result. A further four in ten (41%) noted they have sometimes felt physical discomfort, while 29% have rarely or never felt that way.

Data suggests that consumer confidence has recovered but remains low. With confidence in current household finances dropping slightly in February, 38% of consumers described their financial situation as good, and nearly a quarter (24%) as poor.

RT 14/3/23

Dave C.

 A SONG OF REVOLUTION

You toilers of the world, arise!

To bravely speed the day,

When all your forces organise

King Capital to slay,

And from the master class you’ll wrest

The Powers of the State,

Which, wielded in your interest,

Your class emancipate.

There sounds above the class war din

The battle-cry we use:

Unite! you have a world to win,

Your chains alone to lose.”

Your lot in life is darkest gloom;

You sow and others reap.

And want and mis’ry are your doom,

While idlers treasures heap.

Why have they riches, you distress,

Though you all wealth have wrought?

It is because the few possess

The earth, while you have nought.

There sounds above the class war din

The battle-cry we use:

Unite! you have a world to win,

Your chains alone to lose.”

While you an idle class maintain

For pittances you’ll toil.

To own your products you must gain

Possession of the soil

And of all means the workers need

To found the Commonwealth,

And thus enable all to lead

Full lives of peace and health.

There sounds above the class war din

The battle-cry we use:

Unite! you have a world to win,

Your chains alone to lose.”

Arise! the message to proclaim,

The message full of cheer:

That Labour’s freedom is your aim,

That brighter days are near.

To men exhausted by the fray,

To women in despair,

To children wanting food and play,

To all the message bear

There sounds above the class war din

The battle-cry we use:

Unite! you have a world to win,

Your chains alone to lose.”

 Words & Music by H. J. Neumann

One in five students at Russell Group universities are considering dropping out because of the cost of living crisis, and a quarter are regularly going without food and other essentials, the Observer can reveal.

In the largest study of its kind, new research by the Russell Group Students’ Unions – which represents 24 of Britain’s most elite higher education institutions, including Oxbridge, UCL and Edinburgh – for the first time lays bare the devastating impact soaring prices are having on all but the richest students.

More than half of those surveyed said their academic performance had suffered as a result of the cost of living crisis. Students reported having to take on additional paid work to cover costs, concentration issues caused by poor nourishment and financial stress, and skipping lectures because they couldn’t afford travel fares.

Researchers said unless urgent action is taken, the damage being done by the crisis could lead to universities being “only open to the most privileged” – undoing decades of progress on broadening higher education access.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/12/one-in-five-students-at-top-universities-consider-dropping-out-over-cost-of-living

 There’s a good explanation of why the Silicon Valley Bank failed here:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/10/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-00086586

“Silicon Valley Bank has been bleeding deposits as the Federal Reserve has aggressively raised borrowing costs to fight inflation. Higher interest rates bludgeoned many of the tech businesses that had deposited their money with the bank. As venture capitalists retreated from offering companies fresh infusions of capital to sustain their businesses, startups needed to burn through the cash in their accounts to stay afloat. Deposits the bank had on hand have fallen steadily over the last several months, according to S&P Global Ratings. Higher rates also meant more investments offered an attractive yield, leading some clients to pull out their deposits and put them elsewhere.”

To try to compensate for this, the Bank sold off its holding of government and other bonds. Unfortunately for them, rising interest rates meant that the price of bonds went down and they couldn’t raise enough. And they went bust.

“When banks run into trouble, they can be forced to sell off investment assets, typically U.S. government debt and mortgage-backed securities, that they purchased to earn a return on their customers’ deposits. As interest rates climb, the price of those older securities fall — which means the banks sell those investments at a loss.”

If banks could, as some claim, simply create money to lend “out of thin air” and get interest on it, why would losing deposits make any difference? 

If a bank was short of money, all it would have to do would be create some more to lend and get the money as interest on them.

That this didn’t happen shows that banks cannot create money out of nothing but are only financial intermediaries borrowing money at one rate of interest to cover loans at a higher rate.

Our theory of the nature of banking stands confirmed. 

New wealth can only be created by humans applying their mental and physical energies to change the form of materials that originally came from nature, not by banks practising magic or financial alchemy.

ALB

For more see: The Magic Money Myth – worldsocialism.org/spgb

 Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced a record profit of $161.1bn (£134bn) for 2022.

The name “Department of Defense” is itself a gross distortion since there is not an inch of American soil that needs to be defended against an external enemy. The US government maintains a global military presence without precedent in history, with more than 700 US bases worldwide.

The USA unveiled a $1 trillion budget for the 2024 fiscal year, the largest ever proposed spending on the military. 

Besides $842 billion for the Pentagon, which will undoubtedly be pushed even higher in Congress, there is $24 billion for the Department of Energy, which maintains the US nuclear arsenal, and $20 billion for military-related programs in the State Department, CIA and other agencies, bringing the total official military spending to $886 billion. The $842 billion requested for this year could rise past the $900 billion mark once Congress and lobbyists for the weapons manufacturers have their say.

To this must be added the real cost of the war in Ukraine, which is listed as only $6 billion for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins October 1. In the previous fiscal year, the Biden administration requested $6.9 billion but ended up spending $114 billion. 

The Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon are among nearly 200 signatories to a letter calling on governments to “never again” allow “profiteering and nationalism” to come before the needs of humanity, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The letter urges world leaders to support a pandemic accord that is currently under negotiation at the WHO and treat publicly funded medicines as “global common goods … used to maximise the public benefit, not private profits”.

Current and former presidents and ministers, Nobel laureates, faith leaders, heads of civil society organisations and health experts say Covid-19 vaccines and treatments had been developed with public funding but that pharmaceutical companies had exploited them to “fuel extraordinary profits”. Instead of distributing vaccines, tests and treatments based on need, companies sold doses to the “richest countries with the deepest pockets”, the letter says.

This inequity led to 1.3m preventable deaths worldwide – one every 24 seconds – in the first year of the Covid vaccine rollout alone, according to analysis based on a study published in the Lancet. “That those lives were not saved is a scar on the world’s conscience,” the letter continues.

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand said even though publicly funded science had contributed to the success of Covid-19 vaccines, they weren’t treated as global common goods. “Rather, nationalism and profiteering around vaccines resulted in a catastrophic moral and public health failure which denied equitable access to all.”

President José Manuel Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste said: “In the Covid-19 pandemic, those of us in low- and middle-income countries were pushed to the back of the line for vaccines and denied access to the benefits of new technologies. Three years on, we must say ‘never again’ to this injustice that has undermined the safety of people in every country.”

 Even today, many low-income countries cannot access affordable treatments or tests. They say it is reminiscent of the response to the HIV and Aids epidemic, where millions died as expensive treatments were unaffordable for people in much of the world.

The letter calls for the removal of intellectual property barriers that prevent the sharing of scientific knowledge and technology and for governments to support and invest in research and development. 

It also calls on governments to provide support for the WHO’s mRNA hub, which is sharing vaccine technology with producers in 15 low- and middle-income countries.

‘Profiteering’ of Covid pandemic must never be repeated, world figures warn | Global development | The Guardian

 The number of shoplifting crimes in Poland increased by almost a third in 2022, newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on Thursday, citing police data.

Statistics showed that the number of thefts increased by as much as 31.1% on an annual basis, to over 32,000 cases. Out of 16 Polish regions, only Lublin reportedly did not record an increase in such crimes.

The rise in theft is “a clear signal of trouble on the market,” the president of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organization Renata Juszkiewicz was quoted as saying. Soaring prices have been pushing people to commit such crimes, she suggested, adding that it is “a huge challenge” for stores while prompting further increases in operating costs.

The report indicated that food was stolen most of all, followed by luxury items such as expensive perfumes and spirits, as well as small electronics.

The Polish economy slowed in 2022 amid soaring inflation and a plunge in consumer spending brought on by the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine and the impact of sanctions on Russia. Official statistics show that inflation accelerated in the beginning of 2023, with consumer prices jumping 17.2% in January from a year ago. Economists are forecasting that inflation will continue to rise, with Poland projected to have one of the EU’s highest rates this year.

The governor of Poland’s central bank, Adam Glapinski, said he expects the country to avoid a recession, although there may be temporary fluctuations in the first quarter of the year.

RT 11\3\23

Dave C