IC holds out a continuing invitation: We undertake to print any statement of up to 1,000 words carrying the approval of this party, or one of its branches. Letters from individual members will appear if they are cogent, interesting and concise, and if space permits. If you want your letter to appear unedited or not… read more »
Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press 1976) sticks to the mind like a burr. His facts and illustrations carry impact. Taking the present population of Latin America (300 million) and the present rate of increase, he predicts that in less than 500 years, if this continues, people standing side by side will… read more »
The latest journal to hit – well, perhaps not the news-stands, but at least the desks of people interested in social reform, is SAMIZDAT. The editorial tells us that “Russian samizdat publications circulated secretly among a small, advanced public in the face of official disapproval. British SAMIZDAT takes its name from that example… ” The… read more »
FEW OVER MANY Those who maintain that society embodies mainly the preferences of the ruling few land themselves with the task of explaining how these manage to impose their will. They sometimes claim that it is done by force, but again, how? In The Politics of Obedience (Montreal, Black Rose Press 1975), Etienne de in… read more »
One of these illustrations shows the masses constituting the state, personified in the figure of the monarch. The other shows them constituting a power which smashes the state, personified in a member of what is commonly called the ruling class. They are separated by three centuries which have seen the introduction of universal franchise, general… read more »
IC35 included (on page 2) a note suggesting that Thatcherism stands closer to old-fashioned conservatism than is sometimes thought, its greater sharpness arising from the need (from the Tories’ viewpoint) not merely to maintain an existing condition but to work back to one that has been largely lost. Christopher Thorne, reviewing a batch of books… read more »
Continuing our series of reprints from the SOCIALIST LEADER, from copy supplied by Ellis Hillman, this article comes from the issue of 1st March, 1952. It shows the warm response Walsby was capable of, a side of his personality seldom finding a chance to appear in his more theoretical work, and his evident interest in… read more »
The vast mass of non-political people set the limits within which society is able to operate, anything they refuse to accept being “politically impossible.” Effective prohibition of alcohol is one example of this, effective prohibition of abortion another. The people rarely try to argue a case for drinking or abortion, they just carry on with… read more »
Against the assertion of the left, that it is primarily the suppliers who manipulate the consumers, we have long been pointing out how the pursuit of profit obliges capitalists to comply with the demands of their customers. Politicians also, far from being able to manipulate their constituents, have to go where the votes are. Mrs…. read more »
Dear [redacted] Your response to my letter rather takes me aback; I’m just not accustomed to having the ideas picked up and returned immediately in phrasing that improves on my own efforts. Speaking of those I called non- politicals you say: Most people, it turns out, favour neither control nor freedom in either intellectual or… read more »