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	<title>World Socialist Party (US) &#187; SPGB</title>
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	<copyright>Copyright &#xA9; World Socialist Party (US) 2010 </copyright>
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		<title>World Socialist Party (US)</title>
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	<itunes:author>World Socialist Party (US)</itunes:author>
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		<itunes:name>World Socialist Party (US)</itunes:name>
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		<title>Titanic: 100 Years On</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/04/titanic-100-years-on/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/04/titanic-100-years-on/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:17:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2562</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This April will witness the 100th anniversary of the sinking of theRMS Titanic. Many words will be written in the capitalist media about the disaster, but what of the class aspects of the tragedy and has anything really changed in the last century? The Titanic came into being purely for the speedy conveyance of the rich and wealthy classes between Britain and the US. Opulence and luxury were the watchwords of her design and construction, rather than safety. Designed around class division and reflecting the extremes of wealth and poverty in Edwardian Britain, the vessel featured Turkish baths, gymnasiums, electric lifts, ballrooms, dining rooms, a swimming pool and a library for the first class passengers – all designed to attract the wealthiest clients and secure the biggest returns for the investors in White Star Lines. The now famous story of the Titanic&#8217;s maiden voyage and her striking an iceberg off Newfoundland is too familiar to need repeating.  Also familiar is the often quoted lack of adequate lifeboat provision, although according to the maritime laws at the time, Titanic surprisingly carried more than she was legally required to. What is more interesting from a socialist&#8217;s perspective is how the class divide, evident in the [...]


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		<item>
		<title>Crisis Over? Not For The Unions!</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/04/crisis-over-not-for-the-unions/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/04/crisis-over-not-for-the-unions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:31:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2555</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When European Central Bank president Mario Draghi recently told German tabloid Bild &#8221;The worst is over,&#8221; he was talking about government budgets and European banks’ balance sheets. It is a completely different story for workers through-out Europe who are finding their trade union rights undermined, their wages squeezed, their retirement age raised and their pensions cut while the employers are granted more and increasing power. 27 European Union members are implementing austerity measures to the tune of about 450 billion euros. Such austerity measures have been portrayed as a necessary part of bringing national debts under control and making European businesses competitive, but they go beyond what is needed to overcome the debt crisis, the unions say. It’s a reversal from the late 1940s when European nations emerging from six years of war laid the foundations of the continent’s social model of the Welfare State by introducing mechanisms to ensure poorer members of society weren’t left behind as they rebuilt their economies. France brought in state pensions in 1946, the U.K. set up its free-to-use National Health Service in 1948 and West Germany guaranteed unions a third of the seats on company boards in 1952. ECB&#8217;s Mario Draghi in a Feb. 23 interview with [...]


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		<wfw:commentRss>http://wspus.org/2012/04/crisis-over-not-for-the-unions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The New &#8220;Socialist&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/the-new-socialist/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/the-new-socialist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:33:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Carribean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The recent visit of the Pope to Cuba has again focussed upon the island and the economic and political changes it is under-going. Ahead of his visit, Pope Benedict had suggested Cuba&#8217;s &#8220;Marxist&#8221; structure &#8221;no longer corresponds to reality&#8221; and called for the adoption of a &#8221;new model&#8221;. Pope Benedict XVI has urged Cubans to build an &#8221;open and renewed society&#8221;. His prayers at the island&#8217;s holiest site included a plea for &#8221;those deprived of freedom.&#8221; but Cuba is not Poland, where the catholic church was an important influence upon the opposition to the state-capitalist regime. Although around 60% of Cubans are baptised as Catholics, only 5% are practising. Santería, an Afro-Cuban religion, has more adherents. Under Raúl Castro, Cuba has begun the journey from state-capitalism towards a more free-market capitalism. What Fidel Castro and Che Guevara called “socialism” did not correspond to Marx’s “first phase of communist society” that many erroneously associate with the term since it was based on the state, not the common, ownership and control of the means of production, the majority remaining propertyless and having to sell their working skills to live. As the state was controlled by the leaders of a minority vanguard party, these leaders became in effect the employers [...]


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		<title>Evangelical Riches</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/evangelical-riches/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/evangelical-riches/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Proverbs 10:22 says, &#8221;The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.&#8221; The world&#8217;s largest Christian TV channel, the California-based Trinity Broadcasting Network, has become embroiled in a multimillion-dollar financial scandal after members of the family that founded it alleged widespread embezzlement. The claims – by Brittany Koper, whose grandfather Paul Crouch founded TBN, and by Joseph McVeigh, another family member – describe exorbitant spending on mansions in California, Tennessee and Florida, private jets and even a $100,000 mobile home to house the dogs of Crouch&#8217;s flamboyant wife. The network&#8217;s lawyer said the Crouches travel by private jet because they have had &#8220;scores of death threats, more than the president of the United States&#8221;. The network, which claims to broadcast in every continent and has 18,000 affiliates, was set up by Crouch in the 1970s and preaches a &#8220;prosperity gospel&#8221; which promises material rewards to those who give generously. Two years ago it declared a net worth of more than $800m, although in recent years it has faced increasing financial problems. According to the lawsuit, reported in US newspapers, Paul Crouch Sr obtained a $50m luxury jet for his personal use through a &#8220;sham loan&#8221;, while church funds [...]


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		<item>
		<title>Concierge Medicine</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/concierge-medicine/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/concierge-medicine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:13:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2518</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Money may not buy happiness, but it can pay for you to avoid the hassle of a doctors or hospital waiting room. Well-off executives and their families increasingly are paying tens of thousands of dollars a year for high-end medical services. &#8221;Wealthy people want to have a little exclusivity and want better service than they can get at their normal health-care facility, and they&#8217;re willing to pay for it,&#8221; said Rick Flynn, principal and head of the Family Office Group with Rothstein Kass, a Roseland, New Jersey-based accounting and consulting firm. Concierge medicine, a doctor on a retainer, in other words, the ability to have access to their physicians anywhere, anytime is on the rise in America. 64 percent of all doctors believe that concierge medicine has the best chance of financial success today. In addition to concierge medicine, the wealthy have a variety of plush options to choose from when it comes to their health care. Some hospitals are competing for wealthy clients by offering perks like butlers, fancy beds, beautiful views, and fine food. Some of New York-Presbyterian&#8217;s luxury hospital rooms can cost patients $1,000 to $1,500 per day. Guardian 24/7 is a company that installs emergency rooms in homes, [...]


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		<title>What&#8217;s Being Rich?</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/whats-being-rich/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/whats-being-rich/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:21:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Fiscal Times published an article arguing that a family with an income of $250,000 per year is not really rich. When taxes, housing costs, college costs for children and so on are accounted for, even those with an income five times the median family income are just barely getting by, it said. Later the Fiscal Times reported that a study recently found that a middle class family needs at least $150,000 of income just to cover the basics. Subsequently, The New York Times published an article sympathizing with the plight of those making only $250,000. They are certainly not poor, but neither are they rich in any meaningful sense of the term, it said. Gallup Poll asked people how much money they would need to consider themselves rich. The answers were surprisingly varied. Some 18 percent of people would need less than $60,000 per year of income; 12 percent said between $60,000 and $99,999; 23 percent said between $100,000 and $150,000; 18 percent said between $150,001 and $299,999; 11 percent said $1 million; and 4 percent said more than $1 million. The median income, the exact middle of the distribution of responses, was $150,000. Women, the elderly, non-college graduates, [...]


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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ACTA of Desperation</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/acta-of-desperation/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/acta-of-desperation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:28:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2508</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the more memorable jokes in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was the one about the supercomputer which, on being asked the meaning of life, supplied the answer ‘42’. One of capitalism’s most profound illogicalities is its constant need to render unquantifiable things – like knowledge &#8211; in monetary terms so that its beancounters can do their sums properly. It’s the same joke, only accountants don’t get the laughs. NASA is pulling out of its agreement with the European Space Agency over the planned ExoMars Rover programme, citing lack of funds. It has already ceased supplying the International Space Station. Given that the ISS is the most expensive thing ever to have been built by human beings, this seems rather like spoiling the spaceship for a ha’porth of tar, but there’s a slump on and the purse-strings are being pulled tight. Science is worth the money, says Barack Obama’s budget, as long as it’s somebody else’s money. The price of knowledge is being addressed in a different way by the recent signing by 22 countries of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which is the latest international attempt to establish base-line rules for protecting intellectual property rights (IPR). [...]


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		</item>
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		<title>Our Plutocracy</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/our-plutocracy/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/our-plutocracy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:43:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, the New York Times praised Chelsea Clinton&#8217;s current successes and commitment to public service. Ms. Clinton is the daughter of current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton. The Times reported Ms. Clinton is making the sacrifice of leading us because she feels a responsibility to serve the public good and &#8220;hopes to make a positive, productive contribution.&#8221; Ms. Clinton&#8217;s newsworthy steps toward public service, noted by the NYT, include: meeting people such as Elton John and Richard Gere, taking a public role with her father&#8217;s Clinton Global Initiative, presenting an award to her mother at Diane Von Furstenberg&#8217;s International Women&#8217;s Day event, and hosting her father&#8217;s 65th birthday at a Clinton Foundation Hollywood benefit with fellow guests Lady Gaga and Bono. Ms. Clinton&#8217;s board of directors seat at media conglomerate IAC, alongside former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman, was also described. Ms. Clinton&#8217;s IAC position pays $50,000 a year, plus a $250,000 grant of restricted stock. Mentioned too was Ms. Clinton&#8217;s joining NBC News as a special correspondent, after her advisers arranged interviews with top network executives. The NYT didn&#8217;t question why a 30-ish year old (with [...]


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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are &#8216;Living Wage&#8217; Campaigns Effective?</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/2483/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/2483/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Mar 2012 04:27:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marxism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2483</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The World Socialist Party is frequently lambasted for its opposition to reformism. The workers clamor for something concrete now, it is claimed , not abstract socialist principles. They demand immediate improvements that can be obtained by campaigns for legislation it is argued. The World Socialist Party case that although some reforms may be of material benefit to the working class, advocating party policy to struggle for particular reforms hinders the struggle for socialism and diverts our energies into what often results in dead-ends. We found this article by Stephanie Luce on the Labor Notes website particularly relevant in that it offers some support for our analysis and it is worth extensively quoting from it. &#8220;&#8230;20 years ago a “living wage” campaign by pastors and union organizers in Baltimore caught the attention of activists around the country. It looked like a way to address the fact that so many people were working but were still poor. Living wage activists have accomplished a lot since then, winning more than 125 living wage ordinances in cities and counties, three city minimum wages, and state and federal minimum wage increases. Eight states have indexed their minimum wage to inflation because of activist pressure, and campaigns to raise [...]


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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pigs, fat cats or scapegoats?</title>
		<link>http://wspus.org/2012/03/pigs-fat-cats-or-scapegoats/</link>
		<comments>http://wspus.org/2012/03/pigs-fat-cats-or-scapegoats/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:24:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>SPGB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wspus.org/?p=2480</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bankers are unpopular. Not the ordinary bank teller or the back-up IT staff, but the directors and top managers who award themselves huge salaries and big bonuses. They are so unpopular, in fact, that the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, has been forced to give up a bonus of nearly £1m while his predecessor, Sir Fred Goodwin, has been stripped of his knighthood. The banks defend themselves by arguing that they bring &#8220;wealth&#8221; into Britain, and pay a considerable amount of tax on it. Some even describe themselves as &#8220;wealth creators&#8221;. This is absurd. What banks do is compete for a share of the pool of wealth already created by the productive sections of the world’s working class, wealth which is extracted from them as surplus value. They can be more or less successful in doing this. Banks situated in Britain can channel some of the world&#8217;s surplus value this way which might otherwise have gone elsewhere, but this is capturing surplus value rather than creating wealth. In this way, banks do bring profits to Britain and the taxes they pay on it help finance the capitalist state. It&#8217;s an argument that carries some weight with [...]


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