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 »
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 »
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 »
Asinine Remarks You’re right to say [IC25 p. 13] that I couldn’t be expected to know the long history of ‘confrontation’ (?) between you and the SPGB – I wasn’t even born until 1963. But, as an ex-party member, you must once have understood the socialist case. And this only makes your deliberate misunderstanding of… read more »
Autogestion and omnarchy have been suggested as better names for the “anarchist” movement. For too many people, anarchy requires disorder, and this presumption gets in the way of communication. Because the goal of the true anarchist is to open up a personal space, free of external governance, so that we may be free to be… read more »
Marxism sometimes loosens its grip on the intellectuals enough to permit a timid reference to conservative working people, usually in the tone reserved for rare species facing imminent extinction. In fact, of course, among workers as among capitalists, those who support the constitution (largely conservative) of existing society are more numerous than reformers or revolutionaries…. read more »
IC has had a good deal to say about the (Anarcho-)Socialists of the “SPGB”; now we turn towards the (Socio-)Anarchists of the “Anarchist” movement. Within anarchism there are two strands: First, the attempt to live anarchism within authoritarian society. Second, the attempt to establish a society which shall operate wholly or mainly in an anarchist way…. read more »
This is from the speech which Friedrich Engles delivered at Marx’s funeral: He [Marx] discovered the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat and drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, religion, art etc. and that therefore the production of the immediate… read more »
We have recently had another nasty shock which must also be passed on to readers. It came with the realisation that in one important way we have been doing, and still are doing, what we blame the (A-)SPGB for doing. They use the word “socialism” in a sense used by almost nobody else and are… read more »