PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE (Zoom)

Security?

Does security have a going rate?

What, precisely, is the calculation

Demanded by protecting the nation

And its capital? It’s the other state,

Of course, aggressively belligerent

And quite determined to get its own way,

Which is responsible for this outlay

On our proud military deterrent.

Whatever’s spent, the other then spends more,

Thereby by forcing increased expenditure,

But never enough, it seems, to be sure

Peace will be achieved and maintained through war.

When they attack their aggression’s immense,

When we attack it’s always self-defence.

D. A.

The 24th February 2022 is when the Russia- Ukraine conflict began.

If you refer to the event as a Special Military Operation and Kiev as the capital of Ukraine you’re obviously a supporter of Russia.

If you refer to the event as a war of aggression and Kief as the capital of Ukraine you’re obviously a Ukraine supporter.

Zelensky or Putin? The supporters of each behave like the most fanatical of football supporters. My team come what may! But it’s not a game because its consequences are shattering for so many innocent people who are pawns in the deadly competition.

For further identification as to your leanings then the flag emoji in your social media account will demonstrate where your sympathies lie.

The 2022 conflict can be said to have its origin in 2014 when the United States orchestrated the overthrow of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his government which was seeking closer ties with Russia not the EU.

As the writer below explains, ‘As always in capitalism the economic conflict over control of mineral resources and trade routes (such as pipelines) will be the cause of war.’ The current attempt by the United States to get hold of fifty per cent of Ukraine’s natural resources demonstrates this clearly. There’s no such thing as a free lunch under capitalism.

At present, efforts are under way to come to a peace agreement. In the insane system that is capitalism support for such, in the eyes of European political leaders, makes peace supporters beyond the pale because won’t anyone think of the profits of arms manufacturers?

To channel Shakespeare, A plague ‘o both your houses. And a plague on capitalism because whilst it continues death and destruction will follow like night and day.

The article below is from the Socialist Standard December 2014.

‘The Ukraine Defence Minister stated ‘A great war has arrived at our doorstep, the likes of which Europe has not seen since World War Two’ (Independent, 2 September). The war in Ukraine in 2014 rose out of the ‘Euromaidan’ protests in Kiev in November 2013 when Ukraine under pressure from Russia backed out of a trade deal: the Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. For the pro-European Ukrainians EU membership is seen as synonymous with democracy as opposed to membership of Russia’s Customs Union: the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia. The divisions in Ukraine are basically a conflict between two groups of the capitalist class over the choice of the external orientation of the country; toward Europe or toward Russia. As a carrot Russia promised Ukraine $15 billion in loans and 30 per cent discount on natural gas prices.

Ukraine is the ‘bread basket of Europe’ with its extensive fertile farmlands of rich black soil (chornozem black earth) and the vast fields of wheat, barley, rye, oats, sunflower, beets and other grain and oil crops. In 2011, it was the world’s third-largest grain exporter, and according to a 2013 forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ukraine is poised to become the world’s second biggest grain exporter in the world, shipping over 30 million tonnes of grain out of the country last year. Ukraine also has a well-developed manufacturing sector, particularly in aerospace and industrial equipment, nuclear power generation and hydroelectric generation, an advanced rocket systems industry plus the old industries from the Soviet period of coal mining, steel, and metals. It also has its own proven, significant, but yet totally undeveloped shale gas reserves.

For the Russian capitalist class Ukraine is the ‘near abroad’ and therefore within the sphere of influence of Russia. On 28 February Crimea (given to Ukraine in 1954) was occupied by Russia. Since the 1700s it has been the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet but since Ukrainian independence in 1991 the base in Crimea has been leased from Ukraine, and the leasing agreement was due to expire in 2017, and unlikely to be renewed. This would have meant Russia not having a warm water port giving access to the Mediterranean and via the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean. A great deal of Crimean real estate is Russian-owned, in late February Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development called on Russian capitalists to invest $5 billion in infrastructural projects in Crimea. Gazprom is interested in rich oil and gas deposits off the Crimean coast, as are such western companies as Exxon, Shell and ENI. In April Chevron signed a 50-year lease to develop Ukraine’s shale gas reserves which probably stoked Russian fears about losing its influence in Ukraine and as a major gas market. International Business Times (8 November 2013) wrote that ‘Chevron’s agreement with Ukraine was supported by the US as part of its national security strategy to help reduce Russia’s hold on Europe and Kiev.’

In April pro-Russian separatists in the Eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk declared themselves ‘independent’ of Kiev as the People’s Republic of Donetsk. Russia in a throwback to Tsarist times refers to the disputed areas of south-eastern Ukraine as Novorossiya. In six months of fighting 3,000 people have been killed. This area includes the old heartland of Soviet industry with its concentration of coal and steel production; the Don coal basin known as the Donbass. Essentially Russia wants the Donbass as a ‘protectorate’ so that Ukraine can never join NATO or fully orient its foreign policy westward. The loss of the Donbass region which accounts for 16 per cent of GDP and 27 per cent of industrial production would be a disaster for Ukraine, whose economy will contract 7 per cent this year and may not expand at all in 2015 according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Russia Today 14 May). In August the war expanded when a new war front opened on the coast where pro-Russian separatists took Novoazovsk, a small town on the way to the strategic port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.

The economic war between Russia and Ukraine meant that Russian loans were frozen in January, the price of gas to Ukraine was raised by 80 per cent in April, and Russia insisted that Ukraine pay a $2.7 billion gas debt or it would halt natural gas supplies. Also Ukraine had a foreign debt of $135 billion in 2012 with $13 billion due to be paid in 2014 mostly to European banks, and another $10 billion due in 2015. Standard & Poor cut Ukraine’s credit rating describing it as ‘a distressed civil society with weakened political institutions’ (Bloomberg.com 28 January). In March the IMF authorised an $18 billion loan to Ukraine over two years, and the World Bank coughed up $3.5 billion, both designed to stop Ukraine defaulting on interest payments on its foreign debt. The hryvnia (Ukraine’s currency) has lost 35 per cent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of 2014.

Ukraine has not recovered economically from the world capitalist crisis of 2008-09 and further austerity is required, nay demanded by the IMF as a condition of its loans. The IMF want ‘commitment from the country to undertake painful austerity measures, tough reforms and a near-certain recession as a result’ (The Times, 25 February) while Reuters called it ‘some harsh economic medicine’ (5 March). This will mean cutting fuel subsidies, government spending, pensions, and wage freezes for workers. All this will lead to higher gas prices which are projected to rise by 50 per cent in 2014 and by 120 per cent at the end of four years, rising inflation, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the standard of living for the Ukrainian working class.

The economic crisis hasn’t affected the profits of Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in Ukraine (assets of up to $28.4 billion), his company DTEK controls half of Ukraine’s coal, steel, iron ore and thermoelectric industries, and is the largest employer in the Donbass. A Russian oligarch Abramov owns the mining company EVRAZ. The coal industry in Ukraine is affected by a crisis of over production which was identified in the trade magazine Coal Age in December 2013: ‘A production surplus in 2013 has hurt the Ukrainian coal industry which needs to reduce the level of production, and in addition, has even decided to temporarily close about 17 percent of all mines in the country. Ukraine is the fourth largest coal producer in Europe after Russia, Germany and Poland. The Ukrainian coal industry is believed to have 4 per cent of world coal reserves, or 33.9 billion Mt of proven reserves. This is enough to maintain the level of coal mining for 2012 in the country for almost 400 years.’

As always in capitalist crises, the working class are made to pay for the failures of the capitalist system. Ukrainian miners in the Independent Trade Union of Miners at the EVRAZ-owned Krivyi Rih iron ore mine in the Kryvbas (iron ore basin) near Dnepropetrovsk in Eastern Ukraine are fighting to defend their interests as workers against attacks by the capitalist class who are seeking to make redundancies, and 30 to 50 per cent cut in their real wages. The miners oppose Ukrainian nationalism and Russian separatist ideology and concentrate on fighting against ‘the never-ceasing encroachments of capital’ (Marx Value, Price and Profit), but the miners have had to establish self-defence militias to defend themselves against intimidation, and attacks by lumpen elements called ‘Tatushka’ recruited by the Russian separatists. Essentially these are gangs of thugs organised by mine bosses to crush organised workers before the region can be absorbed into the petro-oligarchy and anarchic-capitalist state that is Russia.

Because of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, the western capitalist powers have imposed sanctions on Russia’s capitalist economy with its large energy reserves (oil and natural gas represent 68 per cent of Russia’s total exports). These commodities are under pressure as new and cheaper supplies come onto the market, and crude oil prices worldwide hit a nine month low in August. Russian capitalists targeted by western sanctions included the largest bank Sberbank, oil companies Rosneft and Transneft, and Gazprom. Their access to capital markets for any long-term funding was restricted, new exploration projects in Siberia and the Arctic were affected by barring foreign oil companies Exxon and Shell from providing any equipment, technology or assistance to deep-water, offshore, or shale projects with Gazprom Neft, LukOil, Surgutneftegas, and Rosneft. Russian gas is delivered to Europe by pipeline which probably explains why Gazprom’s main business is reported not to be on the sanctions list.

Russia is the EU’s third-biggest trading partner with a cross-border trade of $460 billion, and the EU gets a third of its oil and gas from Russia with 40 per cent of that gas pumped across Ukraine. The dominant capitalist power in Europe, Germany, has an economy intertwined with Russian gas and oil exports worth more than $75 billion a year. Larry Elliott wrote that ‘a key aim of Berlin’s foreign policy for the past quarter of a century has been to re-integrate what used to be the Soviet Union and its satellites into the market economy. Expanding capitalism to the east was seen as both good for German business and for German security. Resistance from German industry makes it unlikely Merkel will agree immediately to Iran-style sanctions that would freeze Russia out of western markets’ (Guardian 28 August). The objective of US and European capitalism is energy diversification which means to reduce dependence on Russian oil and gas.

The US and EU capitalist blocs are using the military threat of a revived NATO against Russia as part of the western capitalist attempt at influencing the external orientation of Ukraine towards Europe. In September NATO announced the creation of a spearhead 4,000 strong ‘rapid reaction’ force, with a HQ in Poland and forward units in Poland, Romania and Estonia who have all indicated willingness to host the bases so that NATO would have a continuous presence in eastern Europe. Ukraine has decided to pursue membership of NATO, and clearly the western capitalist powers regard the Russian ‘near abroad’ as their own sphere of influence. The Lithuanian president said ‘It is a fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine. That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU. Practically Russia is in a state of war against Europe’ (Financial Times, 31 August).

The war in Ukraine was no impediment to the NATO military exercise in Ukraine in September known as ‘Rapid Trident’ at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center at Yavoriv, 60 km from Lvov in Western Ukraine close to the Polish-Ukrainian border. 1,300 troops from fifteen countries including the US, Britain, Germany, Spain, Poland, Norway, and some former Warsaw Pact countries that are part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme (non-NATO members such as Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics) took part.

Russia went to war with Georgia in August 2008 when Georgia sought to join NATO. Russia could not allow this and Russia halted NATO expansion into the Caucasus. A Ukraine integrated into the EU and NATO would encircle Russia, which was the same reason for war against Georgia in 2008. As always in capitalism the economic conflict over control of mineral resources and trade routes (such as pipelines) will be the cause of war.’

Steve Clayton

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-war-in-ukraine.html

A piece in the Express brings to mind the the Whitfield and Strong song recorded in 1970 by The Temptations and Edwin Star, War, What Is It Good For?

The response, as SOYMB has pointed out on numerous occasions, is profit!

‘A global ramp-up in military spending amid wars in Ukraine and Gaza helped push weapons manufacturer BAE Systems make a record profit of just over £3 billion last year.

Europe’s largest defence contractor, and the biggest in Britain, said earnings surged by one-sixth compared to 2024, buoyed by “growing threats” to security around the world.

BAE Systems makes weapons ranging across missiles and artillery systems, tanks, planes and warships.

It also makes cybersecurity products and advanced electronics, including for countries’ space agencies, and it is the biggest military contractor to the UK Government.

The company said it secured £33.7 billion of orders last year, taking its backlog to a new record high, amid more demand for its combat vehicles, and improvements to fighter jets and submarine technology.

“Today, nations are facing increasingly varied and complex threats to security,” the company said…’https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2017346/uk-weapons-company-profit-BAE

Another report in the same media notes the launching of a nuclear submarine built by that company at a cost of one point six billion pounds. Apparently, get out your union flags and wave them, it will enable the Royal Navy to ‘project power across the globe.’ 

Flag wavers are more likely to be of the Colonel Blimp type. He was a 1930’s cartoon character who was pompous and jingoistic. The days when Britain’s navy ruled the waves are long gone.‘ By the 18th century, Britain had established a naval hegemony that was to remain unshaken until the 1920s.‘ History Extra 

And long gone too is Britain’s empire. Why does the UK ruling class still behave as if it was a significant power still in the world? The amount spent on the submarine is almost equivalent to the amount saved by the government in cancelling pensioners winter fuel allowance.

An increase, projected, in the the UK defence budget to 2.5 per cent would cost an estimated five billion pounds plus.

The priorities of capitalism are not focused on its majority class. The time is long past to send armaments of all kinds to the scrap heap along with capitalism.

EMPLOYMENT (ZOOM)

From April First we can all expect to find increases in cost of; Council tax; Water rates; Mobile phone bills; Internet provider bills; Car tax; Insurance; Bus fares; Train fares, Petrol, Diesel and so it goes.

We’re all fools for continuing to let capitalism, it’s elites, and its shills, carry on plundering resources, and plundering us.

Rachel Reeves is concerned that workers will demand higher wages.

What of those on fixed incomes and benefits?

A 2022 political campaign Enough is Enough, called for ‘A real pay rise, A cut in energy bills, An end to food poverty, ‘Decent’ homes for all, Higher tax for the wealthy, Nationalisation of Certain Industries.’ Fabianesque aspirations that even in the unlikely event of being implemented would do nothing to change the underlying cause of the problems sought to resolve – capitalism.

‘The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation rose to 3% in January, the Office for National Statistics  (ONS) reported, up from 2.5% in December.

The ONS said a jump in the cost of meat, bread and cereals pushed up food bills, while higher private school fees after the government’s withdrawal of VAT exemption increased the cost of education services.

Rachel Reeves said: “Getting more money in people’s pockets is my number one mission. Since the election we’ve seen year on year wages after inflation growing at their fastest rate – worth an extra £1,000 a year on average – but I know that millions of families are still struggling to make ends meet.”

The chancellor is understood to be concerned that a rise in inflation through the spring and summer will spur public sector workers to demand more than the 2.8% wage increase the government has agreed can be paid from existing budgets.’

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/19/uk-inflation-increases-rising-prices-squeeze-households

‘Millions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of about 5% from April after a slump in Europe’s gas storage levels caused market prices to climb, according to analysts.

The average gas and electricity bill for a typical household in Great Britain is expected to rise by £85 from April to £1,823 a year under the energy regulator’s price cap.

The latest energy price increase would mark the third consecutive quarterly rise in costs for households, in a blow to the government’s election promise to bring down energy bills by “up to £300 by 2030”.

About 9 million households that use variable tariffs linked to the price cap will see an immediate impact on their bills from April, while it will be delayed for others on fixed tariffs.

The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, will confirm the figure for the energy price cap covering the three months from 1 April on Tuesday 25 February. The regulator increased the cap in January by 1.2% to a rate equivalent to £1,738.

Adam Scorer, the chief executive of National Energy Action, a fuel poverty charity, said the third consecutive price cap rise would hit households “after three years of abnormally high energy bills”.

“There is no getting used to this new normal for the people we try to help. Millions of the most vulnerable households are struggling with debt and severely rationing their heating,” he said.

Although a further rise was widely expected, the increase is expected to be steeper than first anticipated after cold, still weather across Europe forced many countries to rely more heavily on gas power plants as wind power dwindled. As a result gas storage levels dropped across the continent, causing wholesale market prices to rise sharply.’

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/18/ofgem-forecast-increase-energy-bills

Dealing

The dealer shuffles the pack and then deals;

With thousands, maybe millions being staked.

A high rolling gambler’s thirst won’t be slaked

Until all hands have been played. Who then steals

The pot, raking in the chips and stacking

Them in neat columns, a harsh histogram

Of winners and losers? Those the cards damn

Find they’re living lives suddenly lacking

A roof, food on the table, or even

A table, or so much as a gutter

To lie in. All who’re drawn by a flutter

Stake their fortunes on the dealer, who then

Calls trumps and deals – one state, two states or more,

Knowing when tricks are turned there’ll still be war.

D. A.

The supposed Chinese curse, may you live in interesting times is undergoing some heavy lifting at present. Western ‘leaders’ appear to believe they are Mildred Rached. Rather than be in charge of the ‘inmates’ in their various States it is they perhaps who should be put into care and their delusions that those they ‘represent’ are in favour of continuing a conflict, one of many taking place, which has already maimed and killed any thousands.

‘Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the UK is ready to play a “leading role” in providing security guarantees to Kiev and deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission, should a ceasefire agreement with Russia be reached.

In an article for The Telegraph Starmer described the Ukraine conflict as a “once-in-a-generation moment” and an “existential” issue for Europe, justifying the potential deployment of British personnel.

“The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine… But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” the prime minister wrote.

“I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way,” he added. “But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country.”

Starmer’s announcement comes as European leaders prepare to convene in Paris for emergency talks, prompted by US President Donald Trump’s recent push for a peace deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and growing concerns over a potential reduction in US defence commitments in Europe.

Trump surprised Washington’s European allies with a lengthy call to Putin to discuss possible steps toward resolving the Ukraine conflict. Since then, the US State Department has circulated a document reportedly containing six questions to assess these nations’ willingness to commit to a long-term security arrangement for Kiev.

“If third-country military forces were to be deployed to Ukraine as part of a peace arrangement, what would you consider to be the necessary size of such a European-led force?” was one of the questions, according to Reuters. 

Another reportedly asked: “What additional capabilities, equipment, and maintenance sustainment options is your Government prepared to provide to Ukraine to improve its negotiating hand and increase pressure on Russia?”

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed in January that Kiev needs “at least” 200,000 European soldiers as peacekeepers to enforce any potential agreement with Russia. However, analysts cited recently by the New York Times consider this figure unabtainable, noting that deploying even 40,000 troops would be challenging.

The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled its intent to minimize US involvement once a potential truce is reached, instead seeking to shift the financial and logistical burden of supporting Kiev onto Washington’s allies in the region.

“To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine,” US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, emphasized that no peacekeeping force can legally operate without a mandate from the UN Security Council. Senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik previously warned that “any contingent entering the territory of Ukraine without the consent and permission of Russia is a military target, with quite understandable consequences.”’

NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR

The Brits are seething. Seething at the Ukraine military. How very dare you waste the “valuable military resources” we have given you! Don’t you know you’re supposed to read the user manual? Used ‘properly’ these weapons are capable of killing far more people.

‘British defence officials have accused Ukrainian forces of “wasting” expensive Western weapons and equipment, The Telegraph reported. According to the newspaper, NATO and Kiev are at odds over aspects of military strategy in the conflict with Russia.

The Telegraph quoted British sources as complaining that Ukraine is attempting to use NATO-supplied weapons in accordance with traditional Soviet-style combat tactics, resulting in significant losses of valuable military resources.

One military adviser described Ukraine’s use of UK-supplied NLAWs antitank missiles, which cost £2,000 ($2,500) each, as reckless. The missiles are being fired “as if they were RPGs,” the source told the Telegraph, referring to inexpensive Russian shoulder-fired grenade launchers.

The adviser is said to have observed instances when a massive barrage of NLAWs was launched at Russian positions, with each salvo costing more than £100,000.

The paper noted the apparent conflict between NATO and Soviet-style military strategies. While Soviet-era military doctrine emphasizes overwhelming firepower, often relying on infantry-led offensives and probing attacks to wear down the enemy, NATO troops prioritize precision strikes and manoeuvrability to achieve battlefield success.

However, Ukrainian troops have reportedly justified their reluctance to accept NATO tactics, arguing that they fail to align with the realities on the ground. These disagreements have reportedly led to tense exchanges, with one alleged incident in which British trainers had to “reach… for their sidearms due to the threat of violence.

Telegraph sources also accused the Ukrainians of abandoning reusable Javelin missile command launch units (CLU), which cost over $100,000 each and often end up in Russian hands. “The Russian army probably has more Javelins than the British Army now,” a source claimed, adding that while he and his colleagues support Ukraine, the UK’s effort to back Kiev “was built around lies.”

The Telegraph report comes as UK defence officials have warned that the country’s military is currently “hollowed out” and underfunded due to years of neglect. British MPs have sounded the alarm that London is woefully unprepared for a “high-intensity” war.

Despite these concerns, the UK has pledged £7.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine, which includes tanks, air defence systems, and long-range precision strike weapons.’