Personal website of Stephen Shenfield (Stefan)
Personal website of Stephen Shenfield (Stefan)
From the Western Socialist, July, 1947 Throughout the world today, working men and women are planning, discussing, organizing in trade unions, demonstrating and supporting political groups, all with a view to improving their social conditions. In some countries, they have had the right to vote for many years, and have been instrumental in the rise to power of Conservative, Liberal, Democratic, and Labor Governments. In all highly organized countries, political parties depend upon workers votes and support to achieve electoral success. After all these years of effort and aspiration, an assessment of their present social conditions should be timely....
Title: Manchester, UK – The Great Bank Bail-Out Location: Unicorn, Church Street, City Centre, Manchester, UK Start Time: 20:30 Date: 2008-11-24 End Time: 22:30
10:30 PM Saturday April 12 The Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU) has sent in several bus loads of members to disrupt the annual meeting of Labor Notes in Detroit. The Labor Notes conference is one of the most important gatherings of rank and file labor activists in Canada and the US. Friends of the WSP at the conference report that an SEIU activist bloodied a 70+ year old female member of Labor Notes. This is an episode in a conflict between the California Nurses Association (Labor Notes vesion) and SEIU (SEIU version) as well as Labor note’s support of...
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R. What is the condition of the working class today? How do you see the status of people who work for a living? W. Speaking very generally, in the early 21st Century, it’s true that certain luxuries are more easily available: it seems that everybody has television, running water, electricity. Certain consumer goods are very available. Food is also widely accessible in the United States as well, unlike in other parts of the world. In some ways, particularly the American working class is in some respects, I think, sheltered from some of the more horrible aspects of global capitalism....
We socialists are often accused of being accused to reforms: social legislation to ameliorate some more or less intolerable situation – Medicare, Social Security, etc. “Not so,” we respond. We of the World Socialist Movement are not opposed to reforms per se, any more than we advocate them. We do not support or agitate for them precisely on the grounds upon which they are ostensibly presented. For they do not cure the ills to which they are addressed. We contend further that the interest of the ruling powers lies in attracting votes for their various political programs. Witness the...
I have been bombarded throughout the past half-century from many quarters to write about this event. Hitherto I have refused, being reluctant to do so, feeling that one cannot deal with events in which one may have been involved and do so with the objectivity necessary. For the same reason I refrain from reviewing books in which I may have been (honorably or otherwise) mentioned. But now, this year being the fiftieth anniversary of that historic event, receiving an official request from the Executive Committee of The Socialist Party of Canada, and simultaneously one from The United Steel Workers...
The socialist movement, small in numbers as it is, has within its ranks a fair representation of so-called civilized man. The majority are not noticeably vocal, nor do they have the ability to express themselves in writing. Another section, albeit possessing certain talents for communicating ideas, are unfortunately constrained to keep their propaganda activities at a minimum, even in some cases to the extent of secrecy. Finally, there are those, all too few, among us who have the knack for imparting knowledge and who have neither the compulsion nor the desire to keep their mouths buttoned. Such was Jack...
To the Editors: I read your magazine regularly and find it interesting, informative and also puzzling. What puzzles me is that you advocate socialism and at the same time oppose social reforms. I always thought that socialists saw nothing inconsistent in working for the establishment of socialism while at the same time participating in the fight for immediate demands. I believe democratic socialism can be achieved when and if a majority of the people become convinced that it is a desirable alternative to the present order. But I rather doubt that I shall see socialism in my time. In...
