We have had a good deal (and expect to have more) to say about the lack of evidence to the Party’s claims for what it likes to call ‘socialism;’ its statements about capitalism we have largely accepted. We do not propose now to say they are without foundation, only that they are so one-sided as… read more »
In the Socialist Standard for March 1987 there appears a full-page article entitled “Are Socialists for War?” It is written as a dialogue between an (anarcho-)socialist. ‘A’ and a mild patriot ‘Q,’ and it puts what the Party likes to call its case against war. In A’s words: Wars are not about freedom and democracy…. read more »
In IC26 there appeared a piece entitled “Principle Number One.” It quoted a Party speaker on Russia saying the power of the Russian rulers is politically based and Principle No. 1 as saying modern society is based upon ownership by the capitalistS. The speaker quoted has now sent the following reply: According to Mr. Walford,… read more »
On Friday 28 February we attended a meeting of the West London Branch on the subject of Apartheid. As usual, the speaker was well informed (though only about capitalism, not about ‘socialism’), and as usual he put the routine party case and used the routine evasion. When it was pointed out that, in South Africa… read more »
The Ethidal Record for March 1987 quotes these figures from an article in Development Forum Nov-Dec 1986: in 1830 there were in the world 1,000,000,000 people; in 1930, 100 years later, 2,000,000,000; in 1960, 30 years later, 3,000,000,000 in 1975, 15 years later, 4,000,000,000 in 1986/87, 12 years later, 5,000,000,000 In 1930 there were in… read more »
Mathematical Science Fiction Story. from Ideological Commentary 27, May 1987.
The unprepared ecclesiastical visitor to the Soviet Union usually gains the impression that the Russian Orthodox Church is thriving. Its coffers are full, its seminaries over-subscribed, its hierarchs sleek and well spoken, and its divine services crowded to overflowing. Beyond these impressive externals, moreover, there is much evidence of a religious revival among the population… read more »
When discussing (or, to be more realistic, when arguing about) the periods at which the various major ideologies first appeared as significant social movements, the suggestion that socialism appeared early is sometimes supported by the claim that Christ was a socialist. Here is a different view: … Jesus virtually never mentioned the poor with the… read more »
The other day, on the television, Lord Boyd Orr told us that the world’s population is now expanding at the terrific rate of some 23 millions a year. In more concrete terms it means that, when you woke up this morning, there were 63,000 more human beings to feed, clothe and shelter and educate than… read more »
In IC12 we presented a table of the patterns of thinking – which is to say the logics – used by the different ideologies. With revisions it goes like this: Protostatic: X and non-X are not logically differentiated. Epistatic: X and non-X are in principle distinct. Parastatic: X is X and not non-X. Protodynamic: X… read more »