tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42752994309187852912024-03-16T01:12:38.060+00:00Capitalism Creates PovertyA blog for the promotion of social, environmental and economic justice@HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.comBlogger462125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-6204398253095727612024-02-24T15:14:00.002+00:002024-02-24T15:24:40.031+00:00The value of victimhoodDid you know that your oppressors are the real victims? The people that keep you poor, without access to a dentist or healthcare, and living in grotty rented accommodation. That's what we learned this week after the farcical 'Gaza ceasefire debate' in parliament on Wednesday. Apparently, the fiasco, which scuppered the SNP motion on Israeli genocide wasn't down to Keir Starmer twisting the arm of@HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-58545306757326470812024-02-11T15:35:00.001+00:002024-02-11T15:35:36.715+00:00Great news about Andrew Feinstein!!! Today, we have some good news for you! Andrew Feinstein, who lived in South Africa and was a friend of Nelson Mandela, has been selected by OCISA to stand as a candidate against Keir Starmer at the next general election!OCISA is the Corbyn inspired campaign to remove Starmer in Holborn St Pancras, of which I am a member. I voted for Andrew whose parents were holocaust survivors, and moved to @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-34825918728173493482024-01-29T17:10:00.006+00:002024-01-29T18:31:14.717+00:00The ICJ ruling is not good for IsraelOn the 26th January, a few days ago, the International Court of Justice delivered its interim verdict on the charges of genocide in a case brought by South Africa against Israel. The outcome was much more positive than many of us thought it would be. Although the word genocide wasn't mentioned, the court did refer to genocidal statements made by Israeli politicians and officials. The court @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-38793462246676002312024-01-13T14:30:00.002+00:002024-01-13T14:32:18.179+00:00Will South Africa succeed at the ICJ on it's charges of genocide against Israel?The big news this week was the hearing at the International Court of Justice (IJC). South Africa, a state which itself has been a victim of apartheid, brought a case of genocide against Israel. On Thursday 11 January, South African lawyers delivered a compelling case to the court, detailing Israel's slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the bombing of hospitals, schools, churches and @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-85323350552006805452023-12-26T14:07:00.000+00:002023-12-26T14:07:11.197+00:00My Cultural Highlights of 2023One of my best cultural highlights arrived on screen recently. It’s an episode of Imagine on iPlayer which deals with the cultural and economic revival of Manchester in the late 70s and early 80s. Titled - The Factory Made in Manchester - it focusses on the new arts centre being built in Manchester and tells the story of the Manchester music and club boom led by Tony Wilson and Factory records. @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-27830352875646792632023-11-26T16:21:00.003+00:002024-01-13T14:33:16.611+00:00Palestinians have a right to resist Israeli aparthied.I need to start this post by explaining that I don't condone the killing of anyone, anywhere, anytime. I'm against wars and for peace. Likewise, I don't support the death penalty and wouldn't even for someone like Harold Shipman.I'm horrified by what is happening now in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian people, including 6,500 or so children, are dead. Many more have been injured and maimed. @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-60825183764264082692023-11-02T14:43:00.006+00:002023-11-02T14:45:25.937+00:00Free PalestineLast Sunday I attended a rally and march in Liverpool calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the terrible bombing and destruction which has cost so far an estimated 9,061 Gazan lives. Of these 3,760 are children. Of course, I condemn the attacks on Israelis by Hamas, but the Israeli response has been disproportionate and amounts to war crimes which include, collective punishment, the @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-51516768864766582192023-11-02T14:15:00.002+00:002023-11-02T14:16:59.330+00:00They're not 'their' children they're 'our children'.A while ago, I wrote a post about western culture. It was called "Western culture is toxic and damages all of our lives". Here is a link. In it, I explored the way our culture actually harms people through patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia, racism, transphobia, criminalisation, othering of nature and many other factors. This post should be read in that context. But it's not just prejudice that @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-6762536869051511162023-10-12T16:47:00.001+01:002023-10-12T16:48:47.482+01:00"Labour is Dead" - Transform Politics demo at the Liverpool Labour Party conferenceI'm a bit late in posting this, but on Sunday the 8th of October I had a day out in Liverpool - something I always enjoy - to meet up with a group of activists from Transform Politics. We assembled at Albert Dock and then did a slow march, in silence, to the Labour Party conference venue. The participants were wearing 'Labour is Dead' T-shirts and carrying a black coffin. My role was largely as @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-20018292786298152652023-09-14T12:51:00.001+01:002023-09-14T12:54:29.129+01:00They want to divide us on pensions, don't let them.When the welfare state started post WW2. Most people who were in receipt of old age pensions from the state weren't expected to live very long. It wasn't unusual for men, who worked hard in manual labour - coal mines, shipbuilding etc - to die not that long after they had retired at 65. Life expectancy has improved dramatically since then.About a decade ago, an attack was launched on pensions by @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-21101938998973241072023-09-02T14:49:00.006+01:002023-09-02T14:49:53.712+01:00Sir Kid StarverKid StarverThere once was a manCalled Kid StarverWho always went onAbout his fatherHis dad made other toolsAs well as himAnd he crawled up the greasy poleDespite being dimHe said what he needed toTo get where he wanted When telling liesHe was never dauntedHe once had a job as DPPA role he filled disastrouslyHe then became a Labour MPAnd lied his way to the topUsing Brexit as a propBut the @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-70824207595222189322023-08-14T15:52:00.000+01:002023-08-14T15:52:08.982+01:00The Red WallThe Red WallI am sad to sayI’ve visited the red wallWhere knobhead working class Tories And the petty bourgeoisieLive in thrallTo Rupert Mordoch’s ScumAnd the Daily HeilThey believe what they readAnd take it up the bumTrashed by Sunak and TrussThey can no longer catch a busOr afford to get their teeth fixedSo they get screwedWhile the rich fill their pocketsAnd kill the planetAs they look @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-7771057026353515782023-07-09T14:23:00.001+01:002023-07-09T14:23:15.260+01:00Meet the real BLOB that rules over us.It's been a busy week for George Osborne., ex-MP, ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer, ex-editor of the Evening Standard, and now the co-host of a 'frenemies' podcast with ex-Labour MP Ed balls. Before we continue, let's not forget that Osborne is responsible for possibly the most disastrous and harmful government 'policy' in British history - austerity. In the early 2010s, on coming into office,@HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-85269414476398268022023-06-23T13:51:00.002+01:002023-06-23T13:51:56.790+01:00How the #Tories and New Labour destroyed Britain.In just over 40 years, the Tories and New Labour destroyed the UK. Here's how they did it:1979 - the advent of Thatcherism.Council house salesPrivatisationAnti-trade union lawsDeregulationThe Big BangCorruptionLack of housebuildingPFI'Free' market fanaticismBuy to letUnderfunding public servicesStudent feesBashing benefit claimantsBashing the disabledRacismEncouraging hatred of asylum @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-13494244843248228542023-05-27T12:01:00.007+01:002023-11-02T14:52:17.887+00:00How the right win, and how we fight backWhen most people vote, it's not a rational decision, it's an emotional one. People vote with their hearts - not their heads. Most voters don’t read party manifestos. They may want nationalised railways, publicly owned energy, and a properly funded NHS, but in the end emotions win many of them over to vote for parties that have no intention of doing any of those things. 'Take Back Control', 'make @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-61762681439689189162023-02-13T14:10:00.001+00:002023-02-13T14:10:48.264+00:00Only a dozen years of #Tory government and the UK is becoming a failed stateI've just been reading this editorial article in the Guardian about the horror that is happening in Lebanon. The ruling class - the business and political class - have run the country into the ground. Lebanon has been trashed and the middle and working classes are really suffering. Its worth quoting at length what is happening. According to the article:"Lebanon’s problems are longstanding. @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-40938821987103930952023-01-05T16:43:00.003+00:002023-01-06T12:37:15.672+00:00My review of 2022Another annus horribilis. Another year of Tory disaster - lies, corruption, tax dodging, public sector destruction, swimming in sewage, and dumping on all workers. Where to start? The list of crimes is very long. The sad reality is that the Tories and their, Tufton Street sponsors, are getting close to their Brexit dream. Britain as Singapore on Thames, the triumph @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-50275302984673314772022-12-21T15:35:00.003+00:002022-12-21T15:35:35.498+00:00Productivity is tyrannyToday I was listening to Helen Lewis's programme about gurus - The New Gurus - on BBC Sounds. The show was about productivity gurus. How can you make the most of your time? You only have 4,000 weeks to live - yikes! It seems there is a guru industry out there with millions of followers on YouTube. Did I learn anything particularly useful about how to be productive? Er...no. Maybe other @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-34768012365431101682022-12-20T14:46:00.005+00:002022-12-20T14:50:24.609+00:00Merry Yule!What does Xmas mean to me? In a word nothing. I loved Xmas when I was a child. I was lucky enough to have a loving family and a Mum who was a very good cook. The tree, decorations, the presents, and the food were great. It was a time of genuine warmth and celebration, lit by an open fire. Now things are different. I still like to make merry with family and friends as much as possible but I @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-39778014104894626772022-12-06T16:48:00.009+00:002022-12-08T10:52:34.115+00:00Privatisation is theft!In 1840 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon famously said, "Property is theft". He was right. The worst event in human history occurred when somebody put a fence around a piece of land and said "this belongs to me". All land should be held in common, and for most of our human history, it has been. In England, hundreds of thousands of acres of common land were stolen from the people by the ruling class during @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-28831810664665596472022-11-01T16:13:00.007+00:002022-11-04T13:20:56.910+00:00In a rapidly worsening climate emergency solidarity and mutual aid are key.CoP27, taking place this year in Egypt, is now on the horizon. Our new PM Rishi Sunak has said he won't attend. This is shocking but not surprising, and he may well yet be forced to change his mind*. We are in a position where climate scientists are warning that we won't meet the CoP set target of restricting global warming to 1.5ºC. Despite the fact that we have known about the dangers of carbon@HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-50163980666950248812022-10-24T16:40:00.005+01:002022-11-01T14:22:28.253+00:00Truss has gone but the #Tory horror show continues apace.What a week! What another grim week! After the Trussonomics mini-budget fiasco, the departure of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, and the 'resignation' of Suella Braverman because of a row with Truss about immigration, and her security breaches that precipitated the resignation of the PM. So now we have Tory chaos, another leadership election in which Bozo Johnson, who has been partying,@HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-46017661376331736662022-09-21T16:36:00.000+01:002022-09-21T16:36:11.686+01:00The most important event in world historyWhat is history anyway? It's a human creation for sure, stories of happenings from our collective past. Given how old the Earth is our recorded history doesn't go back very far, a few tens of thousands of years, maybe a bit more. Most of the ancient stuff is due to discoveries by archeologists. One of the world's oldest human cultures, the aboriginals of Australia goes back about sixty thousand @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-73321336820683616022022-09-12T15:04:00.012+01:002022-09-18T20:22:51.589+01:00Another day, another death.The MSM has lost interest in the pandemic, and coverage is poor. Last time I checked about a month ago, deaths from Covid were about 210,000. It's hard to find the latest figures. Deaths may be going down but cases are still going up. Add to that the avoidable deaths* from austerity of about 200,000, and deaths due to the underfunding of the NHS and I'd guess we're nearing half a million deaths @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275299430918785291.post-6103959640108693072022-08-25T13:48:00.006+01:002022-08-26T16:40:54.481+01:00Solidarity and mutual aid are key for a better future for all of us.In this blog, I’ve stressed the importance of solidarity, not charity and working at the grassroots to build community wellbeing, provide work and housing and combat climate change through cooperation and mutual aid. These are some of the groups I’ve come across who are actively doing this work. They serve as an example of the positive change people can make in their communities. Here is a quote @HT4ecosocialismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10155699044994399251noreply@blogger.com0