SPGB

The United States of America has the biggest prison population in the world and the highest rate of prisoners per capita of all countries. China, with one-party rule and a population that is 4.5 times larger than the US population, has 30% fewer total prisoners than the US. China’s per capita rate is a...
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A non-toxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria. The spray is a form of “liquid glass” and is harmless to living things and the wider environment. It is being touted as one of the most important, environmentally-friendly products to emerge from the field of nanotechnology,...
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A neighbour goes on holiday and another keeps her greenhouse watered. Then he goes away and she willingly feeds and waters his cat. The local school recruits volunteers from the community for a reading programme to benefit the students. A rota of parents run extra-curricular sports options. An army of volunteers delivers regular meals...
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The number of UK children living in “severe poverty” rose in the four years before the recession Save the Children says The number of children in homes in this category rose 260,000 to 1.7m from 2004 to 2008. The report warns there is a danger that severe poverty could rise even further. The government defines relative...
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The earthquake in Haiti and similar misfortunes are presented as unavoidable natural disasters. To some extent, this is true. But it ignores the consequences of the deliberate pursuit of profit at the expense of environmental protection. It is not a coincidence that the number of victims of recent disasters such as the Asian tsunami...
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The Use-Value of loan capital, which is made available through the banking system, consists of producing profit, and this type of profit is described as interest. The rate of interest is arrived at by competition between lenders and borrowers, or by supply and demand; the lender of loan capital striving to obtain the highest...
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When we were children around about the time that we were tiring of Ludo and Snakes and Ladders we discovered the board game Monopoly. I can’t remember the details or the rules – something about cards that said such things as “Pass Go, collect £200″, “Go to jail”, “Get out of jail”. In real...
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‘You can fool all of the people some of the time . . . and some of the people all of the time . . . but . . . The US occupation forces in Afghanistan have learned a particular lesson from the disaster that is Iraq, and they have learned it big time....
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Given the competitive nature of capitalism any agreement on trying to deal with climate change was bound to be feeble and inadequate, If we were living in a rationally-organised world, and a problem such as the threat of a too rapid global warming arose, a co-ordinated global response would be organised as a matter...
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Too good to be true We are conditioned to accept the absurdities and contradictions that capitalism throws up. It is possible now to build a world where every single human being is adequately provided with the material means of a full and happy life in a truly meaningful democratic society; where there is no...
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