[Marxism] Ireland: Fianna Fail/Greens cave in to EU/IMF on `bailout'; Left vows to fight austerity | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Reacting to the announcement , Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the government has no mandate to do what it is doing. It has handed over authority for the state to outsiders in order to get a digout for the banks, which the Irish people will have to pay for. The government should resign so that citizens can have their say in a general election. Sinn Fein TD [member of Ireland's parliament, the Dail] Aengus O Snodaigh said on November 21 that the government should throw the IMF out of the country. Deputy O Snodaigh said Irish sovereignty was not something that Fianna Fail and the Green Party [coalition government] could sell off to the highest bidder. They have absolutely no mandate for any of what they are doing and they are acting against the wishes of the people. This government has brought the country to the brink of economic collapse and now they want to sell of our hard won sovereignty to the IMF. The history of the IMF in other countries is one of privatisation of vital public services and mass unemployment. But there is another way. It's time to burn the bondholders and nationalise Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank. The government should throw the IMF out of the country before resigning and calling a general election. Irish sovereignty is not something that Fianna Fail and the Green Party can sell off to the highest bidder. Full articles and statements from the Irish left at http://links.org.au/node/2009 * Subscribe free to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism Or join the Links Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643 Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Chinese consumer the hope of the world?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/28/magazine/china-portfolio.html Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Understanding China's less than impressive life expectancy growth
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == NY Times November 23, 2010 Life Expectancy in China Rising Slowly, Despite Economic Surge By DAVID LEONHARDT A quick quiz: Which of the following countries has had the smallest increase in life expectancy since 1990 — Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, South Korea or Sudan? The answer is not war-torn Sudan or tumultuous Pakistan. It isn’t South Korea, which started from a higher level than any of the others. And it isn’t abjectly poor Bangladesh. It’s China, the great economic success story of the last two decades and the country that inspires fear and envy around the world. Yet when measured on one of most important yardsticks of all, China does not look so impressive. From 1990 to 2008, life expectancy in China rose 5.1 years, to 73.1, according to a World Bank compilation of United Nations data. Nearly every other big developing country, be it Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia or Iran, had a bigger increase over that span, despite much slower economic growth. Since 2000, most of Western Europe, Australia and Israel, all of which started with higher life expectancy, have also outpaced China. The moral? Economic growth makes almost any societal problem easier to solve, but growth doesn’t guarantee better lives — or better health — for everyone. That’s been true for centuries. The rate of growth and the kind of growth both matter. If you scan the globe today, you may end up wondering whether any country has landed on the right mix. Europe offers a good life to many people, with generous vacations, parental leaves and health benefits, but its economies have been growing slowly, which is one reason its debts are so onerous. The United States grew more quickly than Europe in recent decades, but many of the gains flowed to a small slice of the population. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, actually fell from 2000 to 2007 — and has fallen more since the financial crisis began in 2007. China can sometimes look like the economy of the future, having grown stunningly fast for almost 30 years now, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But it, too, has real problems. Above all, its growth has been uneven. The coast has benefited much more than the interior. Almost everywhere, some aspects of life have improved much more than others. Whether China can switch to a more balanced form of growth, as its leaders have vowed, will obviously have a big effect on the rest of the global economy. Yet it’s worth remembering that the biggest impact will be on the one-sixth of the world’s population who live in China. And arguably the best example is the fact that the country has grown vastly wealthier but only modestly healthier. There is an intriguing parallel here to the Industrial Revolution. The eminent economist Richard Easterlin has noted that longevity and health did not improve much when economic growth took off in the early 19th century. With rising incomes, people could afford better food, clothing and shelter. But they were also exposed to more disease because so many of them were moving to cities. The combined effect appears to have been “stagnation or, at best, mild improvement in life expectancy,” Mr. Easterlin has written. The Mortality Revolution, as he calls it, did not occur for almost another a century. It depended on relatively cheap investments in public health, like sanitation, and on the spread of scientific methods. Similarly, in today’s China, many more people have acquired indoor plumbing, heating, air-conditioning or other basics. Other aspects of the boom, however, have pushed in the opposite direction. As in the Industrial Revolution, many people have left the countryside and poured into crowded cities. Accidents have become common, like the Shanghai fire last week or a series of workplace tragedies in recent months. Obesity is rising. Pollution is terrible. I recently spent some time in China, and despite everything I’d heard in advance about the pollution, I was still taken aback. The tops of skyscrapers in Beijing can be hard to see from the street. Breathing the smog can feel like having a permanent low-grade sinus infection. For the Chinese, cancer has displaced strokes as the leading cause of death, partly because of pollution, notes Yang Lu of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Finally, there is the medical system itself. The dismantling of state-run industrial companies over the last two decades has ended the cradle-to-grave benefits system known as the iron rice bowl. In its place was a market-based medical system many Chinese could not afford. Even in emergencies, people sometimes had to bring cash to the hospital to get treatment. Early
[Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == They got my attention The progressive unification of Europe is possible only in the form of the United Socialist States of Europe. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the only political organization worldwide which advances such a perspective. We call on working and young people to read and support the World Socialist Web Site, study the policies and programs of the sections of the ICFI, and join and build the world party of socialist revolution. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/pers-n24.shtml Peggy Powell Dobbins Sociology as an Art Form www.peggydobbins.net Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == What a terribly antique slogan! Not that I don't like it. In fact, it makes me want Doctor Who to pick me up again and carry me back to fight alongside Garibaldi (Actually, though, I think it's an 18th century idea, isn't it?) Either way, I'm glad the ICFI is right on top of this. Pass the chassepot and raise the tricolor(s). ML Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Or even just A las barricadas! Aux barricades! Auf den Barrikaden! (I'll be over there next to Garibaldi's ghost.) ML Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Others have commented on the slogan, but it's this that caught my eye: We call on working and young people to read and support the World Socialist Web Site, study the policies and programs of the sections of the ICFI, and join and build the world party of socialist revolution. So they have policies and programs and a website. They don't actually DO anything as far as I can tell, but they expect working and young people to be inspired by their policies and programs. Good luck with that. Eli Stephens Left I on the News http://lefti.blogspot.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Crisis in Ireland - video of John McAnulty
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[Marxism] Crisis Conference Wrap-Up (Videos More)
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Hi, Would you post this announcement? Many thanks, Seth November 24, 2010 Dear Friend, Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI) is pleased to announce the creation of new pages in our website publication, With Sober Senses, that are dedicated to following-up on the conference “Economic Crisis and Left Responses,” held Nov. 6 in New York City. We convened the conference in order to further discussion, if not resolve, some of the conflicting theories coming from the Left concerning the underlying reasons for and consequences of the recent crisis and Great Recession. Although the 150 people at the conference didn’t agree on either the theoretical underpinnings or what practice should flow from them, we believe the conference took a giant step forward in the direction of working out theory and practice. That is because many of the speakers and audience members actively engaged with each others’ issues; they did not merely put forth their positions and leave them un-debated, nor did most people rush to prescribe “practice” without indicating the theory underlying their practice. We wish to continue to facilitate wide-ranging dialogue on the conference topics, not only so that all views can be heard but, above all, so that we can test different ideas in debate and work out answers to the questions we are up against at this moment. We believe this is the only way for the Left to become relevant in the face of increasing assaults, in the name of “austerity,” against workers, women, African Americans, Latinos, youth, and GLBTs in the U.S., and similar struggles abroad. You will find a report of the conference at http://tinyurl.com/2vyw8z7. It contains a link to Videos of the entire conference, · Many of the conference papers in written form, · The program, abstracts and draft papers posted before the conference, · The proposal we made at the conference to form a Network for the Circulation of Theoretical Struggles, and · A place to add your comments on the conference and its aftermath. We hope you will contribute to the discussion by submitting a comment and by taking part in the formation of the Network for the Circulation of Theoretical Struggles—sign up at “Contact Us.” We also invite you to take a look at the rest of our website, and to tell us through the “Contact Us” page that you want to stay in touch with MHI (no more than two e-mails a month). In solidarity, Anne Jaclard for MHI Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Don't think To the barricades really captures the content of the struggle right now-- but targeting the debt, the bailout, and the exploiters' common market just might. Beats the fuck out of Vote Sinn Fein. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] blog post: That Which is Full of Wonder
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Full at http://blog.cheapmotelsandahotplate.org/2010/11/24/that-which-is-full-of-wonder/ This is the last paragraph of the post: Our hikes to famous arches like Delicate and Druid have turned us into arch “hounds,” always on the lookout for new ones. We were hiking on the Moab Rim Trail, and Karen spotted an arch along a cliff. We walked over to get a better view. In case it didn’t have a name, we christened it Karen’s Arch. In the distance were the rocky battlements created by the relentless knifing action of the Colorado River. From any vantage point, they look like eternal backdrops in a play that goes on forever. They reminded me of the “metaphysical” art of the Italian painter Georgio de Chirico. He painted urban landscapes that try to make us see the perfect Platonic forms that underlie what we think is reality. But de Chirico’s metaphysic is false. There are no true and eternal forms. There are only appearances, and these are always in flux. Some last a short time, like the artist’s paintings; others, like the rocks, last for millions of years. But all will turn to dust or sand someday. Only the universe itself might go on forever. Still, it gives me comfort to look at the arches, at the rocks around them, at the world we have but only partially created, and dream of those who came here before me and those who will come after. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Such are the wondrous ways of the Web that I, sat here in Brisbane, have just been forwarded a photocopy of the front page of the tabloid the Irish Daily Star headline 'Useless Gobshites'. This can be seen at http://politicalscrapbook.net/2010/11/irish-daily-star-useless-gobshites/. The site for the paper has apparently collapsed due to the traffic. So the headline in a right wing rag captures exactly the sentiment of the masses. I personally doubt if the Irish ruling class want an election in this atmosphere. The hatred, fear, anger and volatility might not be so easy for them to channel in moderate directions. The Greens seem to have finally awakened to the fact that they too are about to be destroyed. They have gone all the way with Faina Fail and now hopefully they are about to cease to exist as an electoral force. BTW looking at what the Greens in Germany and in Ireland achieved while they were in government makes one wonder about the potential of the Aussie variety of Green parliamentarians. comradely Gary Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The left cannot ignore China’s achie vements, but neither can it be too celebratory | Lin ks International Journal of Socialist Renewal
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == By*Michael Karadjis* November 24, 2010 – /Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -- I strongly agree with Reihana Mohideen (“The left cannot ignore China’s achievement in poverty reduction http://links.org.au/node/1941”http://links.org.au/node/1941), that the left cannot simply ignore China’s impressive achievements in poverty reduction and other related social development. I also agree very much with Reihana that the main source of China’s outstanding success as a Third World capitalist power is to be found in the Chinese revolution itself, despite the undoing of its socialist basis and the uncontrolled capitalist development that has taken its place. Full article at http://links.org.au/node/2010 * Subscribe free to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism Or join the Links Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643 Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The left cannot ignore China’s achie vements, but neither can it be too celebratory | Lin ks International Journal of Socialist Renewal
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 11/24/10 9:53 PM, glparramatta wrote: By*Michael Karadjis* November 24, 2010 – /Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -- I strongly agree with Reihana Mohideen (“The left cannot ignore China’s achievement in poverty reduction http://links.org.au/node/1941”http://links.org.au/node/1941), that the left cannot simply ignore China’s impressive achievements in poverty reduction and other related social development. I have some thoughts on China's poverty reduction that were triggered by the documentary Last Train Home that I saw tonight. Will post about this in a couple of days. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] The Irish bailout and the necessity for the United Socialist States of Europe
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I think people on this list might be interested in seeing Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party of Ireland's speech in the European Parliament, to which he was elected last year as an MEP, denouncing what is going on there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD6SpE3H8RA And here he is skewering the president of the European Central Bank: http://www.joehiggins.eu/2010/11/video-challenging-ecb-president-and-eu-economics-commissioner-over-bailouts/ You can see more videos and read more of his comments at http://www.joehiggins.eu/ - Dan Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
