The growing possibility of the Labour Party returning to power at the next election raises the question: what might a Labour government do? Labour seemingly left behind a long time ago the democratic socialism that was the mainstream of the old Labour Party. The latest indications from Labour’s leadership and economic teams seem to confirm that, whatever the current Labour Party brings forward on issues of political economy for example at the next election, it is unlikely to be far-reaching in its ambitions.

Philip Snowden, Labour MP: ‘The British Labour Party is certainly not Socialist in the sense in which Socialism is understood upon the Continent. It is not based upon the recognition of the class struggle; it does not accept the teaching of Marx…’ (Manchester Guardian Reconstruction Supplement. 26 October 1922).  Arthur Greenwood, Labour’s Lord Privy Seal: ‘I look around my colleagues and I see landlords, capitalists and lawyers. We are a cross section of the national life, and this is something that has never happened before’ (Hansard, 17 August 1945). Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Mr. Houghton, M.P. was impressed by his Party’s achievements : “Never has any previous government done so much in so short a time to make modern capitalism work’ (The Times, 25 April 1967). Tony Benn, former Labour cabinet minister and member of the Party’s National Executive Committee, in a candid confession to The Independent (17 May 1989) wrote: ‘Past Labour governments have always worked within the limits set by market forces (as when the cabinet capitulated to the International Monetary Fund in 1976); have always supported nuclear weapons (as when Callaghan authorised the Chevaline without telling parliament); and have regularly confronted trade unionism (as with rigid wage policies)….We must add… a clear recognition that the Labour Party is not — and probably never was — a socialist party, and its individual members do not decide its policy, nor are its election pledges apparently meant to be taken seriously.’

Here are the questions in this year’s Manchester Branch quiz. Answers in a few days’ time, after comrades have tried to tackle them.

1. From which song are the following lyrics taken?

‘I heard a siren from the docks / Saw a train set the night on fire / I smelled the spring on the smoky wind’

2. Which was the first language in which a translation of Marx’s Capital was published?

3. In Liverpool, what was known as the dockers’ umbrella?

4. Who described British people to his mistress as follows: ‘people who carry an umbrella can never … understand the moral significance of war, because they cannot love that supreme, inexorable violence which is the chief motor force of world history’? 

5. In the American South, what was the underground railroad?

6. The COP28 climate summit was held recently in UAE. What does ‘COP’ stand for?

7. What happened in Spain on 26 April 1937?

8. Why is an early australopithecine skeleton known as Lucy?

9. Which city has a monument to the cholera epidemic of 1832, in which 402 people died?

10, What does Bruce Springsteen’s song ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ refer to?

 Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung NYC (RLS-NYC) is the New York City branch of the German socialist–aligned Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, named after early 20th century radical leftist Rosa Luxemburg. RLS-NYC calls for a “progressive” Democratic Party that more closely aligns with the ideology of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) following his 2016 presidential campaign. 

Sanders’ occasional use of  revolutionary rhetoric should not obscure the fact that he has voted with the Democrats 98 percent of the time. Let us put his qualified support for $18/hour into context:

1865: ‘Instead of the conservative motto, A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work, we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, Abolition of the wage system’ (Marx, Value, Price, and Profit).

1928: ‘Earning a wage is a prison occupation’ (Wages, DH Lawrence).

1965: Workers still ‘don’t realise that they can abolish the wages system’ (Socialist Standard).

2009: Current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour introduced.

2022: ‘Bernie Sanders Backs Historic $18 Minimum Wage’ (Common Dreams, 4 November 2022).

BS is often misleadingly called a Democratic Socialist (a tautological misnomer), rather than, at worst, a Social Democrat.

He once stated:

‘I don’t believe government should take over the grocery store down the street or own the means of production, but I do believe that the middle class and the working families who produce the wealth of America deserve a decent standard of living and that their incomes should go up, not down. I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow in America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by exploiting low-wage labor abroad’ (Slate, 15 November 2015).

Those who hope to establish socialism by means of a long series of reforms are doomed to disappointment.  Reforms can modify capitalism to some extent, but they leave its basis untouched. To establish socialism, a revolution—a complete transformation of private property into social property—is necessary.   And  “That is why people who pronounce themselves in favour of the method of legislative reform in place of and in contradistinction to the conquest of political power and social revolution, do not really choose a more tranquil, calmer and slower road to the same goal, but a different goal. Instead of taking a stand for the establishment of a new society they take a stand for surface modifications of the old”

Clearly, the NYC Stiftung’s library is missing at least one of Red Rosa’s key texts!

 *GERMAN POLITICAL CULTURE AND SOCIALISM*

*YouTube video commented on by Andrew Westley*

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

So-called socialist or communist states (actually a contradiction in terms) show the hallmarks of capitalism. State capitalist Venezuela and Guyana are in an uncomradely argument over resources:

 The Poor People’s Campaign Marches On

Celebrating the 56th anniversary of MLK’s original event and enduring

vision.

The Poor People’s Campaign of 1968 set out demands for nothing less than the eradication of poverty.   Yet 55 years later more than 9 million children in America go hungry, between 500,000 and 600,000 people are homeless alongside over 17 million vacant homes,  eight million workers have two jobs in order to afford basic essentials and sixty-one percent of Americans can’t afford to buy a house to raise a family.   

Clearly, what is needed is not a re-launch but rather a rethink. Oscar Wilde explains why: ‘their remedies do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it. Indeed, their remedies are part of the disease. They try to solve the problem of poverty, for instance, by keeping the poor alive; or, in the case of a very advanced school, by amusing the poor. But this is not a solution: it is an aggravation of the difficulty. The proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible’ (The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891).   

According to Dr. King  “The prescription for the cure rests with an accurate diagnosis of the disease,” yet he focused famously on the ‘Triple Evils’ of poverty, racism and militarism, i.e., symptoms rather than the underlying malaise – which is why Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer winning historian, could say of MLK that ‘all the issues that he raised toward the end of his life are as contemporary now as they were then’ (NY Times, 4 April 2018).

For the last five years of his life, King was subject to scrutiny by the FBI. J Edgar Hoover was concerned about ‘communist’ infiltration of civil rights groups and unions but proof proved elusive. Baptist minister King had apparently read some of Marx’s writings and did not like his materialism, but such influences can be seen here: ‘the profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages a cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspires men to be making a living than making a life.’ He even stated ‘the fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad,’ yet rather than seeking to replace capitalism with socialism he campaigned for reforms to restructure it – e.g. he strived for a universal basic income as well as end to ‘overpopulation’. Days after his death Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in housing basis of race, religion, or national origin. Decades later, Obama’s ‘change’ meant business as usual.   Today, racism is waxing not waning, 140 million Americans live in poverty, the top 1 percent has more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, and ‘just 1 in 10 black Americans believe civil rights movement’s goals have been achieved in the 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr was killed’ (The Independent, 31 March, 2018).

 Tomorrow’s evening meeting will be:

 One day Starmer praises Thatcher “plan for entrepreneurialism”.   The next he says that “anyone who expects an incoming Labour government to quickly turn on the spending taps is going to be disappointed”.

Since “entreoreneurialism” (an economic system “characterized by the taking of financial risks in the hope of profit”) is a fancy word for capitalism, it is clear that Starmer, who thinks that capitalism is the only game in town but also understands that it has to be played according to its rules of profits first,  openly stands for capitalism and is prepared to run it on its terms by giving priority to business investment for profit over meeting people’s needs. He doesn’t even attempt to deny it.

We don’t need to wait to see that a Labour government will be no different from a Tory one. They are openly telling us that it won’t be — not that it could be anyway, as all government, whatever their political colour, are forced to give priority to profits over people’s needs. The problem is not the Labour or the Tories. It’s capitalism.

 When the Labour Party was formed in 1900, it was composed of the ILP, the SDF, and the trade unions. It was the beginning of a real mass workers’ party.    Within twelve months, however, the SDF had resigned after failing to get a resolution passed committing the party to common ownership of the means of production and class war. The Labour Party soon fell under the influence of reformism.   Communist Party of Britain.   The SDF evolved in the years that followed and – in 1911 – became the British Socialist Party (BSP). In 1916, the party had ousted the pro-war faction around Hyndman, who then resigned. By this time, the BSP had affiliated to the Labour Party.   In 1917, radicalised by the imperialist war, the BSP were deeply supportive of the Bolshevik Revolution. Many of their members took part in the ‘Hands Off Russia’ Committee.

 With over 13 main games in the franchise, some Assassin’s Creed titles tend to be more underrated than others. That is definitely the case for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate which is currently free to download, no strings attached.

Free access to this game merits a mention here as the original publicity is of interest to socialists.

Surpringly, members of our class wanting  to know more about socialism, and wondering who they’re gonna call – Jeremy Corbyn?  Nicolás Maduro?  Bernie Sanders? No, they can’t see beyond capitalism – will learn more from the console/computer game Assassin’s Creed, where Marx’s call for workers of the world to unite is repeated along with the following biography: ‘Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 – 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, journalist and sociologist considered the founder of the ideology of Marxism … Throughout his life, Marx published several books, the most famous of which are arguably The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. His work in economics laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, as well as subsequent economic thought. Although many revolutionaries, such as Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro would later cite Marx as an influence, their fidelity to Marx’s ideas is highly contested.’