‘The number of US companies that see artificial intelligence as a threat has jumped more than fivefold over the past two years, the Financial Times has reported, citing a survey of corporate filings.

More than half of America’s largest companies (56%) cited AI as a “risk factor” in their most recent annual reports, the outlet cited research by Arize AI, a platform that tracks public disclosures by large businesses.

In 2022, the number stood at just 9%, FT noted.

Among the AI risks mentioned in the financial reports are greater competition fuelled by concerns that some firms will be faster at exploiting the technology than others. Also high on the list were reputational or operational issues stemming from ethical concerns about AI’s potential impact on human rights, employment, and privacy.

“AI may not always operate as intended and data sets may be insufficient or contain illegal, biased, harmful or offensive information, which could negatively impact” a company’s earnings and reputation, telecoms group Motorola said.

The media and entertainment industry emerged as the most concerned, with more than 90% of companies, including Netflix and Disney, seeing fast-growing AI systems as a business risk this year.

The impact of generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, and videos, is already reportedly being felt across an array of industries, FT wrote. More than two-thirds of the companies that discussed that specific type of AI identified it as a risk, it notes.

The companies that highlighted the potential benefits of AI spoke of cost efficiencies, accelerating innovation, improved customer service, and claims analysis.

As many as 40% of companies globally use AI, according to Exploding Topics, a platform that identifies early trends by analysing searches and mentions on the internet. AI is most actively used in India (about 59% of companies), according to the platform. In Russia, roughly 32% of firms were already using AI to perform tasks as of late 2023, according to the National AI Development Strategy.’

The below is from the Socialist Standard January 2024

‘Built into capitalism is competition between states and trading blocs for markets, raw material sources, trade routes, and strategic points to protect these. In fact capitalism is an economic system based on a competitive struggle for profits.

Military spending by states is an aspect of this competition as even in diplomatic negotiations might is right, meaning that states have to spend as much as they can afford on weapons of war. This waste of resources on instruments of death and destruction and training people how to use them is unavoidable under capitalism. When diplomacy reaches an impasse, as it tends to when the stakes for a state are high, this competition leads to wars, often proxy wars fought by local puppets of the major powers.

This competition also severely restricts what governments are able to do about the current climate crisis. If a state does too much to combat it while others don’t, it risks undermining its own competitiveness vis-à-vis other capitalist states and trading blocs.

It’s not just certain capitalist corporations such as fossil-fuel companies that are, or cause, the problem; it’s the whole capitalist system of production for profit. Governments can’t adopt policies to bring about a sustainable economy because that would be to go against the nature of capitalism as a system of unending capital accumulation out of profits, as reflected by rising GDP. A sustainable system of production will only be possible in a world socialist system when there will no longer be the economic pressure to make and accumulate profits as more and more capital.

No effective and lasting measures will be able to be implemented until the Earth’s natural and industrial resources have become the common heritage of all humanity. Then we can tackle this problem in a rational way without profit considerations or vested interests. All working people throughout the world have a common interest in getting rid of capitalism and nation-states and their frontiers. In a frontierless post-capitalist society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the world’s resources, ie, socialism properly understood, we will all be ‘citizens of the world’. Then there will be no waste of armaments or the threat — and reality — of war.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2024/01/what-competition-for-profits-means-2024.html

The below is from the Socialist Standard January 1987 i(Edited)

“If competition is such a wonderful and desirable thing, why does every­body try so hard to avoid it?”. For example, when solicitors lose their monopoly in house conveyancing, opticians lose theirs in selling spectacles, or shopkeepers hear that a supermarket is to be built nearby, do they say “Good! Just what we need: the icy blast of competition”? They do not, instead they pro­test bitterly and do everything they can to preserve the status quo.

Although governments try to encourage competition within their own frontiers they assist their own industries to avoid it in internationall trade by loading the dice in their favour. The governments of the EEC protect their own farmers from competition from abroad by erecting tariff barriers and sub­sidising their production. These subsidies produce such mountains of food that the EEC can sell it on world markets at rock-bottom prices – butter sales to Russia are an obvious case. The American government denounces these subsidies because they keep inefficient EEC farmers in business whereas American farming is extremely efficient and could easily undercut EEC farming if only it were given the chance.

Does this mean that the United States is all for free trade? Only in those industries where it can win, such as farming. It is a different story when it comes to steel and textiles so they protect those industries with barriers against Imports. Most serious is the penetration by Japan of American home markets in cars, electronics and consumer goods. The United States’ trade deficit with Japan was over 50 billion dollars last year and members of Congress, business leaders and trade unions are demanding legislation aimed at reducing Japan’s exports to the United States.

Needless to say the Japanese are not in favour of this but they want to have it both ways – free trade for their exports but every obstacle placed in the way of imports from other countries. For example, Scotch whisky is subject to a level of taxation which makes it much more expensive than home produced spirits. Why don’t these other coun­tries simply keep out Japan’s exports? They are afraid that such a move would spark off worldwide tit-for-tat protectionism with the resulting collapse in world trade. The cure would be worse than the ailment and the Japanese government is taking advantage of this fear.

Groups of governments sometimes band together into a cartel or price-fixing ring to avoid competition among themselves. For years the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shared out most of the world oil market. Each member-nation was allocated an agreed production quota of oil and no more. This year there has been a drastic fall in oil prices caused by the world slump, resulting in a sharp fall in demand, plus the entry of North Sea oil which is not controlled by OPEC. This fall in price has meant less income for OPEC members and some of them have been breading the agreement by increasing production to try make good the lost revenue.

This is what usually happens with governments or companies which organise themselves into a cartel. They are all for cartel when trade is booming and they can carve up the market but when trade is bad they will break ranks and look after themselves. OPEC has just reached a temporary agreement and the price of oil has started to rise again but no one knows what will happen in 1987.

Nevertheless, western governments do try to avoid monopolies within their own countries. As the executive committee of the national capitalist class a government must look after the interests of that class as a whole and not just one section of it. If a monopoly was allowed in an industry then the other capitalists will feel that they may be held to ransom when they purchase from the monopoly. But surely the soon-to-be privatised British Gas is a monopoly, the very thing the government wants to avoid? There are two reasons for this contradiction. The first is that the gas industry cannot really be split up into several competing companies for practical reasons, among them the cost of setting up alternative nationwide installa­tions. The second is the political factor which is that the government sees wide share ownership as a vote catcher at the next general election end the privatisation of British Gas gives it the opportunity to achieve this aim.

This episode has provided an example of the double standards used by politicians. Tory MP Michael Forsyth, a free market zealot. argued that privatised gas would not be a monopoly as it would have to compete with electricity, oil and nuclear power. This is like arguing that if some company owned the entire meat industry it wouldn’t be a monopoly because it would have to compete with fish and chicken.

Companies sometimes need to grow if they are to survive. How could a company meet its competitors if it merely stands still while they grow? This need partly explains the recent merger-mania which saw huge companies being taken over by others.

How does this fact of life in capitalism square with the government’s obsession with promoting small businesses and its frequent use of the Monopolies Commission to prevent the mega-mergers which are necessary to enable British capitalism to compete internationally? The simple truth is that many of those who are heavily into capitalism, like some of the free marketeers, don‘t under- stand the basic laws of the system, one of which is that while small may be beautiful in business, big is infinitely more successful.

The supporters of competition claim that it is of benefit to society because it eliminates wastefulness. In fact it is the cause of massive waste of humanity’s time and energy.

And just look at the hordes of companies eagerly competing to supply us all with double glazing, fitted kitchens, and the like, with armies of salespeople chasing after the same order and all of them selling exactly the same product. This spectacle is repeated all over the world as millions of useful human beings engage in this wasteful duplication of effort. just how does this benefit society?

So competition isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Even the capitalists and politicians only regard it as a necessary evil in the scramble for profit and avoid it whenever they can. Certainly it has nothing to offer the workers except the opportunity to become one another’ s enemies over their exploiters’ quarrels and which have nothing to do with them. Socialists work for a society in which the watchword will be co-operation and where capitalism’s competition will seem as strange and awful as we regard cannibalism today.’

Vic Vanni

https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1987/1980s/no-989-january-1987/competition/

The entity masquerading as a newspaper, The Sun, carries a piece, 17 August, about the S A S. Not Scandinavian Airways but the Special Air Service.

The strapline reads: ‘Behind the scenes of top secret SAS headquarters where UK’s most elite killers are deployed at a minute’s notice.’

Wiki has; The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and special reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British Government or the Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations.

Wiki puts the complement of the SAS at between 400 to 600 personnel.

It has a base in Hereford, better known for cider production and of more value to society that the proud boast in The Sun piece which calls them ‘elite killers.’

For those interested we learn that the type of helicopters the SAS uses; their weapon differing from that of the police; the Diemaco A1 is a variant of the C7 assault rifle, and that “So there is a big table full of uniforms – they can dress up as coppers or other emergency workers. They tend to normally dress as police.”

The Sun also published a piece about the SAS on 29 March, strapline, ‘Inside Britain’s top-secret Special Forces unit whose killer spies mingle with public to carry out James Bond-style hits.’

Like the majority of the military those employed within the SAS are members of the working class.

Why therefore do they engage in killing and whatever else their capitalist bosses order them to do are they prepared to act so readily to protect the interests of capitalism, which, are the opposite of the majority working class?

Who would want the soubriquet ‘elite killer’ attached to themselves?

What reason is there for The Sun to continue to publish such material?

Answers on a postcard or in the comments.

Let it not be forgotten that there are many countries across the world which also take ‘pride’ in its own ‘elite killers.’ A sane society, i.e. a socialist one, would have no need of such barbarism.

The SPGB Summer School begins today, Friday, 16 August. It is taking place at the University of Worcester.

Bookings are no available to attend in person but the four talks planned will be streamed over Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/7421974305

All timings are GMT+1

Political Consciousness: From Society to Ideology ‘Our understanding of the kind of society we’re living in is shaped by our circumstances: our home, our work, our finances, our communities.

Recognising our own place in the economy, politics and history is part of developing a wider awareness of how capitalist society functions.

Alongside an understanding of the mechanics of capitalism, political consciousness also involves our attitude towards it. Seeing through the ideologies which promote accepting our current social system requires us to question and judge what we experience.

Realising that capitalism doesn’t benefit the vast majority of people naturally leads on to considering what alternative society could run for the benefit of everyone.’

The Socialist Party’s weekend of talks and discussion explores what political consciousness is, how it arises and what we, as a class and as individuals, can do with it.’

What’s on and when.

Friday 16 August

1915 Keith Graham on Political Consciousness: What Can We Learn From Marx?

Saturday 17 August

1000: Brian Gardner on “They are many, we are few” The Political Consciousness Of The Capitalist Class?

1400: Paddy Shannon on Political Consciousness: Could GenZ Be Onto Something?

1915: A Q&A with Cat Rylance: An Introduction To Communist Future

Sunday 18 August

1000: Darren Poynton on Socialist Consciousness, Solidarity And Democratic Virtues

It’s reported that ‘Pay for the bosses of Britain’s top companies has increased to the highest level on record and now outpaces the compensation of the median full-time worker in the country by 120 times, a new studyhas revealed.

According to the High Pay Centre, a UK think tank that focuses on the causes and consequences of economic inequality, the median FTSE 100 CEO was paid £4.19 million ($5.34 million) in 2023.

This is the highest level of median executive pay on record, and an increase of 2.2% from 2022. The median earnings of a full-time worker in the country, meanwhile, stood at £34,963 last year. The annual compensation of UK executives is thus higher than what the median worker is able to earn in a lifetime of employment.

The number of FTSE 100 companies awarding eight-figure pay packages of over £10 million more than doubled, from four firms in 2022 to nine in 2023.

The report indicated that the highest paid FTSE 100 chief executive was AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who topped the list for a second year running, with compensation of £16.85 million in 2023, up from £15.3 million the previous year. This is 482 times what the median UK full-time worker makes.

The researchers argue that excessive spending on top earners by leading firms is making it harder to fund pay increases for the wider UK workforce.

“The huge pay gap between executives and the wider UK workforce is a result of factors such as the decline of trade union membership, low levels of worker participation in business decision-making and a business culture that puts the interests of investors before workers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders,” said Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre.

“These developments have been very good for those at the top but it is more questionable whether they are in the interests of the country as a whole,” he pointed out.’

On the 13th August, 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall began. It remained in place, cutting of West Berlin, Federal German Republic from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic until 1989.

The extract below is from the Socialist Standard February 2011

‘The Berlin Wall demonstrates how capitalist states can contain and control their populations. The construction of the ‘Wall of shame’, as the West Berlin state dubbed it, began on the 13th of August 1961. The state capitalist élite of East Germany declared that it was erected as a defence against fascists who were conspiring to impede the ‘will of the people’ from the building of a socialist state – which is a contradiction in terms. Its real function was to prevent the mass emigration of East German workers to the private capitalist workshops of the West. However, by 1989 the economic decline of the Russian empire led to a change in policy by their ruling élite, and access to Russian coercion was to be denied to the puppet states. It was this that brought about the tumbling of the Berlin Wall.



Amid the rejoicing some people in power were not as jubilant as the East Berliners, and millions elsewhere. Margaret Thatcher, wary of a united Germany, was reported to have pleaded with President Gorbachev ‘not to let the Berlin Wall fall’, and to ‘do what he could to prevent it happening’ (The Hindu, Sep 15 2009). Similarly, the French President, François Mitterand warned Mrs Thatcher that a unification of Germany could lead to them making ‘more ground than Adolf Hitler had’, and ‘that Europe would have to bear the consequences’ (London Times, 10 September 2009). Both quotes offer an insight into how the competitive nature of capitalism affects the thinking of its leaders, and directly works against the overwhelming majorities’ hopes, dreams and desires of living in a humane world.’

Andy Matthews

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/search?q=berlin+wall

The below is from the Socialist Standard November 1970 and describes the visit of a socialist to a ‘socialist’ country.

‘When socialists visit so-called socialist countries it can be a particularly nauseating experience, because socialists proceed with their eyes open and with a background of understanding. What they sec is a variety of capitalism, which more correctly might be designated as fascism. One should not forget that the Nazis called themselves socialists (National Socialist German Workers Party) The label on the bottle does not always denote the medicine inside.

I have several times been to the so-called “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”, but have never seen anything remotely resembling socialism there.

The workers of Yugoslavia arc paid wages, and there is at present much unemployment— just as in other capitalist countries. Money is used as a means of exchange because there is buying and selling — a fundamental of capitalism. This may be new to non-socialists, but indicates to us the true nature of the economy.

Outside the trade union hall in Belgrade, I watched hundreds of workers trying to get into the hall to see an important chess match. At that moment, an enormous car came along — a veritable palace on wheels, and a sort of combination of a Rolls-Royce and a Cadillac. One should appreciate that the average car in Yugoslavia is well below the standard here. I concluded that this car must be that of President Tito. When it pulled up I noticed the Soviet flag flying on the bonnet, and out stepped the Russian chess team, immaculately clad just like film stars. The Yugoslavs beamed at them as if they were from Mars.

When the chess tournament started there was the usual speeches from the platform by the local mayor and other dignitaries, who proudly welcomed the Russians (and others) to the “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”, and one speech after the other kept referring to the “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”.

I once asked a railway official (who was both interpreter and guide) where 1 could see any signs of socialism in Yugoslavia. “Yes”, he said, as if pleased with my simple question. “Just come with me”. He took me to the square outside the station which was decorated with Russian and Yugoslav flags, following some agreement between those countries at that time. “There”, he said proudly, “that’s positive signs of socialism”. When I told him that flag waving (as socialists saw it) was a sign of jingoism or patriotism, he failed to appreciate my standpoint.

The German Democratic Republic

The crossing of the East German territory when travelling to Berlin by plane presents no difficulties, for one flies straight in. But when going by train, one has to traverse the Eastern zone, known by the false name of “German Democratic Republic”, for no democracy exists there.

In 1946 when the G.D.R. was formed, the Communist Party received only 20 per cent of the vote which gave them power; and in 1953 Russian tanks faced and butchered a mass of hostile workers during an uprising. There can scarcely be anything democratic after that affair.

When the train stops at the West German frontier, the passport authorities quickly walked through the corridors, and their work was finished in a few minutes. Then the train goes on through two or three miles of no-man’s land to the Eastern frontier. The passport inspection is quite another thing here. 1 counted no less than twenty-four officials who swarmed into the train or played a part in the inspection. Two soldiers with rifles were standing at each end of the train, and I noticed a policeman with a large Alsatian dog standing on the line near the end of the train. Then he let the dog off the lease, and the dog went under the train from end to end, for obvious reasons.

Four other officials climbed on top of the train and opened the vents and covers where the water for the toilets is taken in, walking the whole length of the train to perform this task.

The delay caused by this thorough search took up about an hour, and the train was nearly empty. Reports have it that three or four hours delay are not unusual.

From West Berlin foreigners (but not West Berliners) can visit East Berlin by special coach. Passport details, and the amount of money one has, are all checked and entered on a large form which has to be signed before one is allowed to board the coach.

“Check Point Charlie” is a special entry point on the Berlin wall. The wall itself is about ten feet high, with concrete blocks and barbed wire to decorate it realistically. There are notices of mines, and soldiers arc patrolling it on the Eastern side; while on the Western side is an electrified wire fence in case one has managed to beat the other obstacles. The atmosphere of the concentration camp dominates everything ; and I began to wonder, as a socialist, what 1 had let myself in for.

At “Check Point Charlie” everybody had to descend from the coach and line up with “permit disc” bearing a letter and number (and in numerical order — like in army or prison), while the East German guards checked every detail of passports, visas, and the form which had been signed in the Western zone. This took about an hour, and frequently visitors are sent back because their passports are not in order for the East section. When one has scaled all these hurdles, you re-board the coach and are permitted to go through from “Capitalist Berlin to Socialist Berlin”.

East Berlin, which remained far behind West in re-building, has now surged forwards and there is a mass of buildings completed, and many still being built. The Russians pillaged all they could lay their hands upon, and Fast Germany suffered as a result. While the West was receiving Marshall Aid, East Berlin was being ransacked and made to pay for the war. No wonder the East Germans wanted to escape to the West.

The coach stopped only once during its three hours in East Berlin, and that was in the middle of a park where there was no possibility of contacting anybody. The real purpose of this stop was for toilet requirements, although the official guide made it appear that the purpose was to visit an enormous war memorial, guarded by Russian soldiers. The Russians evidently knew that if they did not guard their monuments in Hast Berlin, the workers would soon demolish them.

We were several times warned that cameras and newspapers must not be taken into East Berlin — so democratic is their regime.

With all the propaganda and security of this police state, there was absolutely nothing remotely resembling socialism— only a nauseating hypocrisy.’

Horace Jarvis

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-visit-to-eastern-europe-1970.html

Extreme Right or Wrong

They gathered with weighty stones in ham fists,

With petrol bitter all along sour tongues,

With words made incendiary by deep wrongs,

And eyes blindfolded with flags that insist

Upon such myopic obedience

To the visceral, that’s so black and white

Consideration for colour is sleight

At best, when outrage remains too intense.

Meanwhile the vision of those leading the blind

Along their dead-end path is all too clear,

They have power in sight, the power of fear,

Preaching the past as the future’s declined.

First there’s anger, but that moment will pass

Until the next night of breaking glass.

D. A.

The SPGB holds no truck for capitalism Or for capitalists. Neither do we hold truck with disorder aimed at individuals. We do support fully free speech and abhor attempts by States which, for their own purposes, look to limit it.

Does this mean we should stick up for billionaires when they appear to be resisting more authoritarian control over 1984 State type behaviour? Musk and his social media company, X (formerly Twitter) are apparently at odds with the British Establishment over comments made by Musk. Whether this is a damp squid, time will tell. As we pointed out in the previous SOYMB post, link below, the solution to the ills of capitalism and Big Brother governments is in the hands of the working class.

‘London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner has threatened to charge foreigners for “whipping up hatred” online, naming X owner Elon Musk as someone who could be prosecuted. The warning comes amid a nationwide crackdown against supposed hate speech following a spate of right-wing riots.

“We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,” Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News.

Asked whether the Metropolitan Police planned on charging people posting on social media from other countries, Rowley replied: “Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law,” and named “the likes of Elon Musk” as potential targets for investigation.

As of 10 August, more than 700 people* had been arrested and more than 300 charged over their alleged participation in the riots, which kicked off after a teenager of Rwandan descent killed three children and injured ten others in a stabbing spree in the town of Southport late last month.

Initially sparked by a false rumour that the knife man responsible for the stabbings was a Muslim immigrant, the demonstrations grew into a wider backlash against Islam and mass immigration, culminating in rioters setting fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Of those arrested, more than 30 have been charged with online offenses, such as sharing footage of the riots or posting content that – according to the Crown Prosecutorial Service – “incites violence or hatred.”

Critics, including Musk, have accused the government of stifling free speech, and of operating a “two-tier” justice system, in which white British suspects are punished far more severely than immigrants.

Musk shared a post on Saturday highlighting the disparity between the cases of Steven Mailen and Mustafa al Mbaidib. Mailen, 54, was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Friday for shouting and “gesticulating” at a police officer during a violent demonstration in Hartlepool last week; Al Mbaidib, a 27-year-old Jordanian national, was fined £26 ($33) last month for assaulting a female police officer in Bournemouth in May.

“Sure seems like unequal justice in the UK,” Musk wrote on X. The billionaire also shared a series of memes comparing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to a Nazi officer and the British government to the totalitarian dictatorship of George Orwell’s ‘1984’.

Starmer is considering amending Britain’s Online Safety Act to punish social media companies that allow the spread of “legal but harmful” content, The Telegraph reported on Friday. The act, passed by the country’s previous Conservative government, was originally set to include such a clause, but the passage was ultimately pulled after Business and Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch complained that it amounted to “legislating for hurt feelings.”’

Latest internet figures suggest 945.

See also https://soymb.com/2024/08/the-full-force-of-state.html

Thank Starmer we have a Tory government, oops, Labour Party, to protect us from the “Far Right thugs” who share the same nationalistic aim as him of keeping more “illegal immigrants” out of this scepter’d isle but choose a different method.

You may very well think that the attempts at ‘humour’ and irony here are not at all funny, but are puerile and lacking in any kind of wit. We don’t find these events in the least bit risible either — neither the methods of the rioters nor the reaction of the State.

The wheels of justice grind slow, but grind fine (Sun Tzu) ‘tis said. Not when you’ve upset The Powers That Be they don’t. Then they move at the speed of a Japanese Bullet Train.

In August, the Crown Prosecution Service’s X account (formerly Twitter) gave lots of examples of how quickly the State would respond.

‘Think before you post’ exclaimed one of their tweets. ‘Content that incites violence or hatred isn’t just harmful — it can be illegal.’ ‘You can also be prosecuted for sharing this material’

What is the intended message here? Be good little girls and boys and post pictures of fluffy bunnies only on social media otherwise some size-ten boots will be round to kick your front door in?

Under Section 127 of the UK Communications Act 2003 several individuals have already been imprisoned for posting tweets.

The Right Honourable Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology wants X readers and Elton Musk to know that up with it the state will not put:

‘The internet cannot be a haven for those looking to sow division in our communities…social media has provided a platform for this hate. We have been clear that these companies have a responsibility not to peddle the harm of those who seek to damage and divide our society, and we are working closely to ensure they meet that responsibility.’

Subtext, Elon and your ilk, better start taking more notice of the global states who find ‘free speech’ a nuisance and at odds with our determination to continue government ensures a compliant, subservient populace.

He also added, we will be introducing a Ministry of Truth to ensure that the only lies and misinformation which appears on social media with be state-sanctioned. Okay, he didn’t actually say the last bit. It’s called satire, Your Honour.

The Home Office X account posted the porridge which the state can inflict for various offences: Prison for rioting, up to ten years; violent disorder, up to five years; inciting racial hatred, up to seven years and criminal damage, up to ten years.

Obviously, the ‘protests’ were not aimed directly at subverting or overthrowing the capitalist system itself, and even if they were (which of course they weren’t) they would be pathetic and miserable. If you are planning a ‘revolution’ this is a pitiful way to go about it.

Capitalism operates for the benefit of the few due to the efforts of the many. A member of the working class is anyone who has no choice, if they want to survive, but to sell their mental or labour power to someone prepared to buy it and exploit it. Whether or not they think they are superior to the ‘masses’ the apparatus of the state is also run by the working class. The civil service, the ‘justice’ system, the police, the military, the media — all the organs of state oppression and power couldn’t operate without the involvement and cooperation of the working class.

What is likely to be the aftermath? An even more authoritarian government? Even more legislation than already exists imposing restrictions on social media, free speech, physical protests and the enforcement of even more chains. Already anti-Far-Right protesters too have felt the full force of the law.

The power which capitalism wields globally will only be consigned to the dustbin of history with the implementation of a society based upon production for free use, not profit. This will only be achieved when a majority realise and understand socialism is the only feasible alternative to the existing iniquitous system.

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s 1819 poem has as much resonance today when applied to the global working class, ‘Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you –Ye are many – they are few.’

 Friday 9 August 19.30 (GMT + 1)

*DID YOU SEE THE US NEWS?*

*Host: Darren O’Neil*



To join the meeting click https://zoom.us/j/7421974305