Looking Back on Edward Bellamy (2016)

From the July 2016 issue of the Socialist Standard

In 1888 a book by Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, was published which had an enormous impact at the time. It could even be said that it marked the take-off of modern socialist ideas in America.

Bellamy was a New England journalist and writer who had travelled widely. His utopian novel is based on the story of a rich young Bostonian, Julian West, who is sent to sleep by mesmerism and does not wake up until the year 2000, by which time a far-reaching economic and social revolution has taken place in America.

As explained to him by his host, Dr Leete, all land and industry is now the collective property of the whole community and run as a public service to supply people’s needs. People no longer work for wages, and money has been abolished. Instead, everybody is required to serve in an industrial army between the ages of 21 and 45 and in return receives an annual credit, which is equal for everyone, in the form of vouchers entitling them to draw a given amount of goods and services from the common store. Differences between the nature of jobs would be taken into account by adjusting the number of hours the people doing them would be expected to work. The functions of government, Dr Leete explains, now reduced essentially to the organisation of production for use are exercised by the general council of the industrial army whose members are elected by those who have retired from industrial service, i.e. by the over-45s.

Bellamy depicted a technologically advanced society, imagining some technological advances that would have taken place between 1888 and 2000, for instance moving pavements, music piped to every house, and goods delivered to homes by pneumatic tubes. Reality (airplanes, motor cars, radio, television, electronic computers, internet, mobile phones, etc) turned out to be much more amazing than anyone in 1888 could have imagined, but this strengthened rather than weakened Bellamy's case.

Although the industrial army aspect is over-painted (and Bellamy himself watered it down in his later writings), all the essential ideas of the socialist movement as it was to develop in America were there: collective ownership of all land and industry on a national scale, production for use not sale or profit, social service instead of working for wages, economic equality, industrial administration replacing political government.

Bellamy himself never referred to himself as a socialist, apparently feeling that the foreign associations of the word would put off American public opinion which he was seeking to convince. He referred to his system variously as 'national co-operation', 'nationalized industrial system' and even as 'public capitalism'. The movement which sprang up on the basis of the ideas expressed in his book was called the 'Nationalist' movement. Nevertheless, his was a powerful indictment of private capitalism and its effects on the propertyless majority which it both created and exploited. Many of those influenced by Bellamy were not afraid to call themselves socialists. In fact they easily moved from his Nationalist movement to Socialism, including Daniel De Leon who joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1890 and became its leading figure till his death in 1914.

The attraction of Bellamy’s book was that it put forward a solution to the social problems, brought about in America by the development of industry under capitalist conditions since the Civil War, and which did not reject industry and industrialisation, but which on the contrary fully accepted them as providing the means to supply plenty for all.

When people like De Leon left the Nationalist movement and became socialists, they did so not because they disagreed with the goal but because they disagreed with Bellamy’s strategy for reaching this goal. Bellamy thought that a 'nationalised industrial system' could come about gradually through the trustification of industry and then the piecemeal nationalisation of these trusts, and steadfastly refused till his death in 1898 to entertain talk about socialism and the class struggle. He got no further than supporting the People’s Party (Populists); in fact most of the Nationalists who did not go over to calling themselves Socialists were absorbed into the Populist movement.

De Leon and the others who broke away over this issue saw Bellamy’s system, which they were not afraid to call socialism, being achieved through the working-class victims of the competitive system organising politically and industrially to dispossess the private capitalists, so making all means of production the common property of the community (or rather of ‘the nation’ as they sometimes revealingly put it). Like Bellamy, they envisaged 'political government' being replaced by 'industrial government', though their conception of this latter was more democratic than Bellamy’s since they envisaged the members of this 'central directing authority' being elected by those working in the various branches of industry, an idea Bellamy had rejected in Looking Backward as being bad for the discipline of his 'industrial army'.

When William Morris reviewed Looking Backward in the Socialist League's paper, Commonweal, on 22 June 1889 he made the point that one of the dangers of socialist utopian novels was that some people would take them as a description of what socialism was going to be like rather than as seeing them as the author's preference as to what he or she would like it to be (a point to remember, as Morris himself made clear, when reading his utopian novel News from Nowhere written precisely to propose an alternative vision of the future to Bellamy's).

In his review Morris criticised the regimentation and centralisation Bellamy depicted and, like other socialists of the time, challenged his view as to how socialism would come about. Above all, he criticised Bellamy's attitude to work. Like many others, Bellamy saw work as something inherently unpleasant which people had to be obliged to do and which society should aim to minimise. Morris's view, on the contrary, was:

'I believe that the ideal of the future does not point to the lessening of men's energy by the reduction of labour to a minimum, but rather to the reduction of pain in labour to a minimum, so small that it will cease to be a pain.'

Morris point is a reasonable one but views similar to Bellamy's still circulate amongst critics in America of capitalism, for instance in the Zeitgeist movement (which wants to automate everything) and Parecon (which is based on the assumption that nobody will work without some form of compensation as an incentive).

This said, Looking Backward was an important work in the development of the socialist idea in America which in turn had an influence in their development in other parts of the English-speaking world including Britain.

Looking Backward can be read online here. 

For Members Only (1952)

From the September 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man”

Thus wrote Francis Bacon about the end of the 16th century.

Every year, the agenda for our annual conference carries a number of items for discussion. Any controversy that arises, whether it be a matter of internal organisation or the application of socialist principles to some problem of the moment finds its way into our conference room. There it gets analysed, investigated, debated and argued—to the full extent of the time available.

Every member of the party cannot be at the annual conference to hear or take part in the debates. Amongst those who do attend are many who would like to speak but are deterred by the limitation of time or their own failings as public speakers. Thus, many a valuable contribution may be lost to our discussions. We are going to remedy that.

Next month will appear the first issue of “Forum,” the S.P.G.B.’s internal journal. It will be the paper that hundreds of members have waited for. In it, any and every member of our party may express his point of view on the various controversial issues that arise in our ranks from time to time. The columns of “Forum” will be kept lively with the heat of debate as members flay the pants from one another in arguments and discussions. Out of the battles of ideas will emerge modified and clarified points of view. Here is our opportunity to become “Full,” “Ready,” and “ Exact.”

It is our intention to publish monthly, in this new journal, three or four feature articles expressing controversial points of view, written by their most able exponents. In following issues will appear replies from those who wish to pick up the gauntlet.

You, who have views on the advisability or otherwise of contesting parliamentary elections—here are bones for you to pick in the first issue of “Forum.” How many of you will want to have a crack at the author of "The Nature of the Socialist Revolution.” also to appear in issue number I? And the title, “Trade Unions,” will cover many of the much discussed issues that arise whenever the subject is broached amongst a group of S.P.G.B’ers.

In addition, we shall include items of party news, suggestions for reading and for study, and any matter that will be useful and interesting to members of our party.

Francis Bacon was a wise guy. He made some pithy remarks. Such as:

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”

“Forum” is going to be a paper that will be chewed, digested and enjoyed.

S.P.G.B’ers and members of Companion Parties overseas! You must not miss the first issue of our new paper. If you get hold of a later issue and find yourself in the middle of a red-hot discussion on a topic of vital interest, and you have missed the beginning, you’ll want to kick yourself. So make sure of No. 1. Send your order in at once. Order through your branch or take out a subscription. Do it now, or you may leave it too late.

Internal Party Journal Committee.

Fairly Equal (2016)

Book Review from the July 2016 issue of the Socialist Standard

'The Great Divide', by Joseph Stiglitz. Penguin £10.99.

Stiglitz is a kind of dissident establishment economist, a Nobel Prize winner and former Chief Economist at the World Bank, yet who is in some ways at odds with conventional views. This volume consists of shortish essays from publications such as the New York Times and Vanity Fair, with some extra material. Most deal with the United States, but there is also some discussion of other countries, including China, Scotland and Mauritius.

The central theme is inequality and its consequences, though strangely there are no references to Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Level. As an example of the extent of inequality, an article from 2012 notes that the family that owns Walmart has wealth of $90bn, equivalent to that of the poorest 30 percent of the US population. In three years of recession, median wealth declined by 40 percent, and workers are on average worse off than their parents were. In the first three years of the so-called recovery, 95 percent of the increase in income went to the top one percent. There is no equality of opportunity in the US either, as the life chances of a child are dependent on their parents’ income and education. The children of the poor suffer disproportionately from asthma and learning disabilities.

Among the consequences of a high degree of inequality are greater instability, lower growth and less aggregate demand. This is because the very rich consume less, as a fraction of their income, than lower-income individuals. So a less inegalitarian system would supposedly lead to a more buoyant economy and almost everyone being better off. Moreover, the current astonishing levels of inequality are not inevitable but the result of deliberate policies, including the growth in importance of the financial sector.

Stiglitz sees the present system as an example of ‘phoney capitalism’, where ‘losses are socialized and profits privatized’ and markets are not truly competitive (a position more usually associated with the ‘right’ than with the ‘left’). Corporate welfarism means the banks and so on are bailed out by the government, but those who own them still make big profits and their top bosses still get massive bonuses. He is particularly opposed to what economists term ‘rent seeking’, which includes preferential tax treatment, government subsidies and the profit from controlling a monopoly. It is a zero-sum activity, devoted to gaining a bigger share of the pie rather than increasing the size of the economic pie, and just leads to an increase in wealth at the top of the scale.

As for the kind of society he wants instead, Stiglitz says we should choose both capitalism and fairness. He prefers a far more equal system and rejects austerity, which weakens demand and so discourages investment. Inequality stifles growth, and committing resources to education, infrastructure and technology will be a way of ‘putting America back to work’. With bland views like this, it is little wonder he is on the Labour Party’s Economic Advisory Committee (with Thomas Piketty).

One essay here is entitled ‘Of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, for the 1 percent’. Nothing Stiglitz says suggests that he stands for a society where things will be different in any significant way from this.      Paul Bennett

Party News Briefs (1952)

Party News from the September 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Delegate Meeting will be held at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, on Saturday and Sunday, September 6th and 7th, commencing each day at 11 a.m.

A Social and Dance will be held at Conway Hall on the Saturday evening commencing at 7 p.m. Full details regarding this appear elsewhere in this issue.

Indoor Propaganda Meetings will be held fortnightly at Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, commencing Sunday evening, 5th October, at 7 p.m. Every effort will be made to ensure that these meetings are successful and members are urged to note the dates and interest as many as possible to attend. The hall is a pleasant one, easily accessible and has been booked until March, 1953, and affords an excellent opportunity and scope to propagate the Party’s case. Branches will be making their own arrangements to publicise these meetings as much as possible. The members who cannot attend branch meetings will be noting the dates in order to invite non-members to attend.

St Pancras Town Hall has been booked for a Sunday evening meeting on 12th October, when another Challenge meeting will be held, similar to the successful May Day Challenge meeting. Other political Parties have been invited to send a representative to address the meeting.

Phyllis Howard

To All Members: The Internal Party Journal (1952)

Party News from the August 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Party members will know by now that the first issue of the Internal Party Journal is to appear in October. It will appear regularly each month. The decision arises directly out of the expressed wishes of Conference.

The committee responsible for the publication is governed by terms of reference laid down by the E.C. The matter to be published will include articles on controversial issues, educational matters, book notes and guidance on courses of study, letters from correspondents, and general information about the activities of Socialists at home and broad. Judging from letters from comrades abroad it seems that even E.C. reports are as welcome as refreshing rain in a desert. The Journal, we know, will be very welcome. A comrade from the U.S.A. writes that it is a “tremendous step forward," and expresses the opinion (and hope) that it will be open to contributions from comrades in the companion parties. We hope that the views and opinions of members of all the companion parties will find expression in the Journal, and that it will provide a new link between us all to help to break the remoteness of distance. The new venture will demonstrate that Socialist principles are the stronger where varying opinions about their interpretation and application can be argued out sincerely and without fear.

The first issue in October will contain, apart from other matter, four main articles: “The Nature of the Socialist Revolution,” “Is Parliament the Road to Socialism?” “Trade Unions,” “Is the Time Opportune for Socialists to Contest Parliamentary Elections? ” Each issue will contain main articles as well as correspondence dealing with previous articles.

The price of the Journal has initially been fixed by the E.C. at sixpence. Early reactions suggest that the demand will be good and the possibility of it being sold at a lower price or of producing a larger Journal is not ruled out. For the time being it will be a four-page production about twice the size of our Election Specials.

Branches are asked to give the effort their full support and to endeavour to contact each member with a view to selling a copy to each member. Branches are also asked to let H.O. know at the first opportunity the number they will require of the October issue. Comrades out of touch with branches are advised to take out a quarterly, six-monthly or an annual subscription and to write H.O. accordingly.

This is the paper the membership has asked for and it should be taken by the whole Party membership.

Party News Briefs (1952)

Party News from the August 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Provincial Propaganda Tour. The Executive Committee have approved preliminary arrangements for a Provincial Propaganda Tour during August. Comrades Lawler, Coster, May and D’Arcy are visiting Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, and Comrade Cash is going to Glasgow for two weeks. Help from members in these districts will be welcome and we suggest that the secretaries of the branches concerned be contacted for further details.

It is hoped to send speakers to Nottingham for weekend meetings and following Comrade Lawler’s fortnight in Birmingham, to send week-end speakers from London to follow on.

Bloomsbury Branch will not be holding meetings during the month of August as Conway Hall will not be available. From Thursday, 4th September, the branch will hold its meetings on the first and third Thursdays in each month as ’ previously instead of weekly as at present

Islington Branch are holding a weekly Speakers’ Class under the guidance of Comrade F. Terry. Four meetings have already been held and the six members who have regularly attended have found the class interesting and instructive. The branch suggests that other branches might find the scheme worthy of consideration. 

Denison House Meetings. The Propaganda Committee have the Executive Committee’s approval of arrangements to hold fortnightly Sunday evening meetings at Denison House from October 5th to December 14th and then during the first three months in 1953. Bloomsbury, Ealing and Paddington Branches have already offered to assist in running these meetings and it is hoped that really good results will ensue.

St Pancras Town Hall—It was considered that the May Day Challenge meeting at St. Pancras Town Hall was a success and arrangements are in hand to book the same Hall for a similar type of meeting for Sunday evening, October 12th. When dans are more advanced details will appear in the Socialist Standard. 

The Internal Party Journal. Members’ attention is drawn to the notice elsewhere in this issue announcing the launching of the new Internal Party Journal in October. This is something that has been “in the air” for a long while and now that it is shortly to appear it is up to all who are interested to give it full support. A lot depends on effective planning in advance of the first issue, and members will greatly help this work by making their decision about getting it as soon as possible.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1952)

Party Notes from the July 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Head Office Forum will be held on Saturday, July 12th, at 7 p.m., subject, “Socialism in Backward Countries.” Forum is to consist of Comrades F. Evans, D. Fenwick, C. Groves, G. McClatchie and W. Read. A. Turner will take the chair. This should prove a very interesting discussion so please make a note of the date and time.

Summer School Week-end was held on Saturday and Sunday, June 8th, and 9th, at “Treetops,” Farley Green, Surrey. Sixty members and friends were present and despite showers on the Sunday, all appeared to have enjoyed the week-end. F. Evans gave a lecture on Economic Geography and a discussion was opened by A. Turner on “Socialist Propaganda—is our approach too Negative?”

A Social was held on Saturday evening. All expenses were met with £1 surplus.

It is hoped to arrange an autumn week-end school at “Treetops,” and if members who are interested would contact the Central Organiser it will enable him to make preliminary arrangements as a minimum number of visitors must be ensured before he can book the camp.

Provincial Propaganda,—The Executive Committee is making arrangements for a comrade to visit the Manchester/Liverpool area for four weeks in August. It is also hoped to run regular fortnightly meetings at Nottingham throughout the summer. The meetings already held there have proved most satisfactory. 

Ealing Branch is slowly but surely increasing its efforts after a period of comparative inactivity. At the time of writing three debates are due to take place, one of which is in June with the Ealing North Liberals. The other two come later in the year with the Peace Pledge Union and George Schwarz, of the Sunday Times.

Members are once more rallying in support of the outdoor stations at Ealing and Richmond. This year’s season has had an encouraging commencement with good results. It is also proposed to hold two seaside propaganda trips, one of which is to Southsea on June 22nd, and the other to Hastings on August 17th. Ventures of this sort have in the past proved very fruitful, some excellent meetings having been held.

Just recently the monthly canvass of the Socialist Standard has been recommenced with promising results to date. Efforts are also being made to get the sales of the Party’s journal boosted in local newsagents and outside railway stations.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs: Glasgow and St. Pancras (1952)

Party News from the June 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

May Day, 1952. Our Glasgow members write that this year’s May Day has been very encouraging for the Glasgow Comrades. In the afternoon on Sunday, May 4th, at Queen’s Park Recreation Grounds, a propaganda meeting which had been organised jointly by Kelvingrove and City branches, was a great success. The best, as a matter of fact, ever held outdoors on May Day.

When members arrived at the park with their small platform, the Communist Party, I.L.P. and the Scottish Nationalists were building up platforms and mounting loudspeaker equipment on motor-lorries, whilst waiting on their respective members who were marching to the park in the May Day Procession.

The procession duly arrived helped by pipe and flute bands and made for the different platforms prepared for them. When the circus had passed our first speaker mounted the platform and very quickly gathered an audience which grew to at least 500. Our meeting lasted two hours and could have gone on longer, but we had to allow time to get to the Cosmo Cinema where we were holding our indoor meeting in the evening. During the time we were holding the outdoor meeting we witnessed the spectacle of the once proud I.L.P. having to close down after less than 30 minutes, during which they had made a vain effort to get an audience with the assistance of loudspeakers and a ladies’ pipe band. The Scottish Nationalists stuck it out with a comparatively small audience, considering all the display they had. The only other meeting of any size was addressed by the ‘Rev.' Harry Pollitt, backed up by the choir of the ‘Russian Orthodox Church.' Their audience amounted to about 2,500, mostly composed of the faithful flock who had marched all the way from the centre of the town shouting silly slogans.

Our meeting arranged for the evening in the Cosmo Cinema had been advertised by putting 10,000 tickets through doors in the Kelvingrove constituency, by street chalking and newspaper advertisements. The distribution of the tickets had been hard work and we were anxious to see the results. The audience, giving a conservative estimate numbered at least 550. A collection of £15 13s. 8d. was taken and £4 odd literature was sold. But for a last minute hitch which deprived us of the use of a car for our loudspeaker equipment, we would probably have filled the hall which holds 750. Comrade May gave an excellent lecture and the members went home satisfied that the work they had put in was well worth the results.

The total of the collections for the day was £16 12s. and total literature sales amounted to £7 10s.

In London plans had been made to hold our usual May Day Rally in Hyde Park, but owing to heavy rain our hopes were washed away. Despite the rain, however, efforts were made to distribute handbills advertising our evening May Day Rally at St. Pancras Town Hall.

An audience of 600 attended this evening meeting to which we had invited representatives of other political parties to speak from the platform putting their parties’ case so that the audience could compare the various cases along with the case of the Socialist Party. The Liberal Party accepted the challenge, the Labour Party declined, the Conservative Party replied that they could not accept as it was not their practice to address meetings on a Sunday, the Communist Party did not reply to our invitation.

The meeting commenced with Comrades D’Arcy. and Waters speaking for the Party and a Mr. Allison for the Liberal Party. We announced that our challenge had been made and only accepted by the Liberal Party when a Conservative and Labour Party member from the audience asked if they could speak on their respective Parties’ cases. They were permitted to join the other speakers on the platform and each spoke for ten minutes. The audience was most attentive and many questions were asked of our speakers.

A collection of £17 was taken and literature sales amounted to £3 10s.

St. Pancras Branch members were responsible for Stewards and literature sellers, and the general organisation of the meeting, and they worked efficiently and well.

Manchester Branch held their May Day Rally on Thursday, 1st May, at a meeting in Chorlton Town Hall. Apart from knowing that this meeting was also very successful we have not the full details to hand yet.

Phyllis Howard

Our 48th Annual Conference (1952)

Party News from the May 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

On the morning of Friday, April 11th, of this year, 69 delegates, representing all but one of our branches, assembled at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, for our 48th Annual Conference. The delegates sat down to criticise and discuss a 14-page report from the Executive Committee, together with two pages of amendments to rules, 22 resolutions and 13 items for discussion. This was quite a plateful to digest in the three days at their disposal. On Friday afternoon the delegates reached the all-time record total of 72 delegates.

Much of the discussion on Friday morning centred around proposals for reorganising and improving the procedure at our Conference. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that the increased size of our conference delegation during late years has shown some of our procedure to be suitable only for smaller bodies and that, as we grow in numerical strength, we must amend our methods in order to facilitate our work.

Another proposition which was obviously inspired by the increase in our membership was that all branches with a membership of over 50 should be encouraged to divide and set up new branches in nearby localities. Conference decided that to attempt to increase the number of our branches by these methods was undesirable and would not have the effect desired by the proposers of the item. Branches should be allowed to grow naturally without urging from Head Office.

The Executive Committee reported to the Conference on the Party’s finances during 1951. The report showed that losses made in previous years on our Summer Schools were not repeated during 1951. The cost of postage, printing and stationery increased by about 30 per cent, compared with 1950 and over 60 per cent, compared with 1949. The cost of producing the Socialist Standard was up by £150 during the year necessitating the increase of price by 1d. Expenditure on Hall Hire, Advertising, etc., was also greater so that altogether, “The end of 1951 sees us worse off financially (as far as balance is concerned) than a year previously, but with the problem of premises solved permanently.”

The main item of discussion on the Saturday session centred around our methods of propaganda. Heated arguments were advanced in favour or in opposition to our various avenues for expounding our case. All were agreed that it would be inadvisable to discard any one of those avenues but that we might with advantage concentrate on certain ones without neglecting any. The disadvantages attendant upon outdoor meetings in this age of noisy traffic, cinemas, radio, television, etc., were considered, but our inability to make use of the modem mass propaganda machinery, due to lack of finances and Government control, make it necessary for us to continue with older methods despite the fact that they may be less productive of results than of yore.

The training and encouragement of new speakers, the methods and manner of our approach to audiences, the social problems that we investigate and the flaws in our propaganda organisation were all debated, and delegates indulged in a lot of self-searching to find causes for dissatisfaction and remedies for the future.

Sunday afternoon was devoted mainly to a discussion on electoral activity and the Executive Committee was instructed to put forward candidates at the next General Election. Here a problem was encountered. It was recognised that a Parliamentary Election could be held at very short notice and that quick decisions would have to be made. The concern of delegates arose from the need to keep decisions on all major issues in the hands of the Party membership whilst at the same time being able to make such decisions in the limited time available.

Much of the discussion disclosed a dissatisfaction with the slow growth of our organisation, but never at any time did a delegate or other member suggest that we should depart from the rock-firm foundation on which our Party is built—a sound understanding of our object and principles on the part of all applicants for membership. We have seen other political parties which have called themselves socialist but have in reality been little more than rebellions, build up large organisations on the soft sand of a mass, politically-ignorant membership, and then crumble away to oblivion.

The report of the work done during 1951, which was under review, did not show anything sensational. The decline in interest in outdoor meetings was offset by an increase in the number of writers for the Socialist Standard, tending to show that many members consider written propaganda to be more effective than verbal.

Those members who sat through the three days of the Conference, whilst the sun was shining outside the Conference Hall, probably felt that they had experienced three days of dry-as-dust discussion. It has been said that this was not our most brilliant or enthusing Conference. Long hours of serious discussion was relieved by an occasional humorous wisecrack or, interjection. But it was business done. It was a real Conference in that the delegates assembled to confer on the many problems facing the Party and not to listen to long-winded oratory from a bunch of party commissars, as is the case at the Annual Conferences of other political parties. We can embark on the next year of socialist activity reinforced with the ideas and decisions that emanated from the Conference.

A successful social evening was held at our new Head Office on the Friday evening and the social and dance on Saturday evening was likewise a great success. The Conference concluded with the usual Party rally in the Conway Hall on Sunday evening.

W. Waters

Party News Briefs (1952)

Party News from the May 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Annual Conference, a big event for Party Comrades, again took place at Conway Hall, London, during the Easter week-end. A report of the proceedings appears on another page of this issue.

Propaganda was one of the items discussed at length during Conference and it does appear that greater efforts should be made all round to improve this vital aspect of the Party’s work. An opportunity is available for London Comrades in particular to gather round for the May Day Rally in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon, 4th May, and for the evening indoor meeting at St. Pancras Town Hall, held after the Park meeting. A call has been sent to Branches urging that Members should help to advertise these meetings and to sell literature. Comrades are asked to meet at St. Martins-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons (3rd and 4th May) at 2.30 p.m. as there will be an opportunity to sell our literature at meetings that are being held there. This will provide a good opportunity to distribute handbills advertising our Sunday evening meeting. So please make a note of the dates and time and turn up prepared to work for Socialism. Literature sellers are also urgently needed at Bayswater Road (Hyde Park) at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday, 4th May. This is an extra special occasion and worthy of strong support.

Glasgow Branches (City and Kelvingrove) are also holding a May Day Rally at the Cosmo Cinema, Rose Street, Glasgow, on Sunday, 4th May.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs (1952)

Party News from the April 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Annual Conference is being held as usual at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 11th, 12th and 13th. The proceedings commence each day at 11 a.m. and it does speed the work of Conference considerably if members and visitors arrive punctually.

The Social and Dance (full details elsewhere in this issue) is being held on Saturday and it is hoped that there will be a record attendance. A band has been engaged and the price of the tickets includes refreshments which are available in the small hall.

Conference Rally takes place on the Sunday evening and Provincial speakers have been invited to address the meeting. This meeting provides a good opportunity for provincial members to be present at a London propaganda rally.

Leyton Branch have been unsuccessful so far in arranging a debate with a local M.P. Challenges have either been refused or unanswered, but there is still hope of getting an acceptance. During the last few months the Branch has continued to hold fortnightly lectures and discussions on a variety of subjects. These lectures have been well attended by members and visitors. It is hoped to run the outdoor meetings this summer without assistance from Head Office, several members of the Branch being Party speakers.

Bloomsbury Branch have held two Sunday meetings in Central London and arrangements will be put in hand to have regular Sunday meetings at the same address during the next indoor winter season. The Trade Union Club having closed, the Branch found it difficult to find an alternative meeting place in Central London after an unbroken record of over ten years at the Trade Union Club. We hope the new venue will prove the alternative.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs: Paddington, Bloomsbury and Manchester (1952)

Party News from the March 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Paddington Branch report that the first of their fortnightly Sunday evening meetings held at Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, was a success and it is hoped that these meetings will be continued for some time. Meetings in March are being held on the 9th and 23rd. For details see Notices of Meetings.

Bloomsbury Branch, since the closing of the Trades Union Club, has been anxious to obtain a Central London Hall for Sunday evening meetings and has now been successful in hiring the Night Taxi Drivers’ hall at 6, Flitcroft Street (off St. Giles High Street), W.C.2 The first meeting will be held on Sunday, March 16th, at 7 p.m. followed by another meeting on March 30th. The speaker on the 16th will be A. Turner and on the 30th the speaker will be C. May. These meetings together with the Paddington Branch meetings at Denison House, will provide good propaganda opportunities in Central London in addition to the regular weekly Sunday evening meetings at Head Office (52, Clapham High Street). Will members and sympathisers please note these dates and give the meetings every possible support

Other midweek meetings are being held regularly by Branches throughout London and full details appear elsewhere in this issue.

Manchester Branch is holding another meeting at Onward Hall, Deansgate, on Friday, 14th March.

The Annual Conference will be held at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 11th, 12th and 13th, when the work of the Party over the past year will be reviewed. On the Saturday evening a Social and Dance will be held in the large Conway Hall and the usual Sunday evening Rally will be held in the same hall.

Will members who can accommodate Provincial Delegates and members prepared to assist in the social arrangements, please contact the Social Committee at Head Office as soon as possible in order to facilitate the smooth running of the social side of Conference.

Phyllis Howard

Party News Briefs: Paddington, Hackney and Glasgow (1952)

From the February 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

Indoor Lectures throughout the Party have been held regularly during the winter and on another page in this issue is a list of meetings for February.

Paddington Branch is launching out with fortnightly Sunday meetings at Dennison House, Victoria.

Hackney Branch hold meetings every Friday at Bethnal Green Library at 8 p.m. There is comfortable seating accommodation for 160 visitors in this hall and the Branch specially invite their many sympathisers in East London to make these meetings widely known. There is always ample time for discussion where sympathisers and opponents can participate.

Kelvingrove Branch have sent two contributions to News Briefs. One is addressed to the Working Class of Kelvingrove and states, “ You have probably bought the Socialist Standard for the first time. Much of it will seem new to you and some of its contents may need explaining when compared with what you thought was Socialism. Our canvassers will be at your door again sometime in the near future to sell you another copy of the Socialist Standard or perhaps a pamphlet. But in the meantime, why not come to our Branch meeting in St. Andrew’s Hails, Door G, Berkeley Street, and find out a little more about Socialism. There is not time to waste, the need for abolishing Capitalism is urgent. Kelvingrove Branch meets every fortnight on Mondays at the above hall. The following are the meeting dates for February: 4th, 18th, and March 3rd, 17th and 31st. Time 7.30 p.m.”

The Kelvingrove Branch are continuing with their efforts in bringing to the notice of the Kelvingrove constituency the need for Socialism. In the month of December the sales of the Socialist Standard, through canvassing, increased again to 14½ dozen copies; nearly two dozen copies of these were the November issue.

So far about one sixth of the constituency has been canvassed and the number of members engaged in the task is six. These members canvass on an average of two nights each week. As time goes on the Branch hope to encourage other members who are a little self-conscious at "going on the knocker,” to take part. In the summer it is hoped to extend the propaganda work by chalking the area with suitable slogans advertising the Socialist Standard. It is our aim to get the Party well known in the district and in time to have quite a few more members of the working class understanding Socialism and joining the Party, to work for the achievement of Socialism.

Party News Briefs: Glasgow and Brighton (1952)

Party News from the January 1952 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Organiser of Kelvingrove Branch sent the following news of Branch propaganda activity for last month’s issue but it was just too late for the printer so it had to be held over until this month.

   “Since the middle of August, the Kelvingrove Branch has had a very successful series of outdoor meetings. Two members who previously had not shown any great ability as speakers, have, with a little change of technique, managed to hold outdoor meetings at which on only one occasion, has there been less than 100 of an audience and, on every other, the audience varied between 150 and 300. Collections and Literature sales have been good and a number of regular attenders are beginning to come around. But, best of all, the success we have had, has put new zest into the Branch as a whole. Our meetings started off with attendances of about 3 to 4 party members and quickly mounted until at the last two we could count 15 to 20 members.
   To those members who have tried speaking and then given up when they did not meet with immediate success; we hope our achievement will act as encouragement to have another go. It helps a great deal if one is big enough to accept constructive criticism from fellow members and, of course, if a deaf ear can be turned to members and relatives who deplore your lack of ability.
  During the election period, with the help of three "Glasgow City" comrades, we managed to push about 2,000 Election Manifestos through an equivalent number of doors. We would have liked to have done the whole Kelvingrove constituency, but to succeed in such a venture, we would have needed more members or the Manifestoes at our disposal on an earlier date.
   By holding meetings, attending opposition party meetings and canvassing from door to door almost 20 doz. S.S. were sold, this being the total amount of S.S. ordered by City and Kelvingrove.
  Taking stock of the past couple of months’ activity, we feel pleased, and look forward to next year’s propaganda season with renewed vigour and vitality—our recent success has acted like a tonic.”

Members of the Brighton Group made application to the Executive Committee for permission to form a Brighton Branch. Permission was granted and so another Group becomes an official Branch of the Party. For some years now, members in the Brighton area have been very active and they formed a Group which has worked well and consistently. Good outdoor propaganda meetings have been maintained throughout the year.

Phyllis Howard

Proper Gander: Branded Comedy (2016)

The TV Review column from the July 2016 issue of the Socialist Standard

Labelling a show as a ‘sitcom’ can make us assume that it’ll be throwaway or shallow, however watchable. But some of the most well-known situation comedies have said something interesting about society and how we cope with it. Perhaps the sitcom with the most ambitious ideas was The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin (1976 – 1979, 1996). In each of its series it explored the alienation of being a middle-aged middle-manager, the hollowness of consumerism, communal living and a government takeover by senior citizens. Butterflies (1978 – 1983) followed a housewife feeling trapped in the role she’s been pushed into. Its author, Carla Lane, also penned the once-huge, now-forgotten Bread (1986 – 1991) about a family’s dodgy deals to find enough money. The same theme was the basis of the even more popular Only Fools And Horses (1981 – 2003). Yes Minister (1980 – 1984), Yes Prime Minister (1986 – 1988, 2013) and The Thick Of It (2005 – 2012) sent up the games played by politicians, civil servants and government advisers. Twenty Twelve (2011 – 2012) and W1A (2014 – 2015) satirised the corporate culture behind the London Olympics and BBC. Their mockumentary style was influenced by The Office (2001 – 2003), which had something to say about workplace hierarchies and dynamics, as did Getting On (reviewed in the December 2012 Socialist Standard). In this series, Jo Brand’s character, Kim, worked in a geriatric ward of a NHS hospital. She and the other nurses had to wade through the swamp of market forces and stifling procedures to care for their patients.

Getting On’s sequel, Going Forward (BBC4) revisits Kim when she’s working as a domiciliary carer visiting elderly people in their own homes. The fictional company she works for, Buccaneer 2000 (‘We care about your healthcare’), is on the shoddier end of the market, its clients often left waiting for carers that don’t turn up. When Buccaneer 2000 stops caring about your healthcare and abruptly closes its domiciliary division, Kim loses her job and already-unstable income because she’s on a ‘zero hours’ contract. The show doesn’t dwell on how this type of employment is even more vulnerable and unfulfilling than other kinds. Nor does it explore the other problems commonly facing carers, such as the impossible pressures to adequately change someone’s dressings, wash them, make food for them and perhaps even chat with them within a 15 minute appointment.

Instead, the programme’s emphasis is more on how money and the lack of it shapes the lives of its characters. Kim’s ageing mother has to move to a care home after suffering a stroke. Her bungalow is sold and its proceeds are split between Kim and her neurotic sister, Jackie, played by Helen Griffin. Several months later, Jackie has spent her share, and the sisters realise that they won’t be able to afford their mother’s care home charges. When her health deteriorates further, she crosses the threshold of qualifying for those charges to be funded through the state. The series ends with Kim accusing Jackie of being happy about their mother being more unwell because of its financial upside.

This is one example among many in the show of how money wraps itself around our lives. As well as distracting the sisters from their mother’s wellbeing and pushing a wedge between them, money weighs heavily on the mind of Kim’s husband. Portrayed by Omid Djalili, Dave works as a chauffeur with an income considerably less than those he drives around. His wide-boy colleague Terry tries to steer him into taking a driving job in Iraq, arguing that the high wages justify any risks. They also talk about another driver who received a £100 tip and now runs his own business. Throughout, getting money is associated with getting kudos, security and comfort, even though it is the money system which puts these at risk. The same point was also made in Bread and Only Fools And Horses, but with a brashness completely different from Going Forward’s bittersweet, naturalistic style.

Despite Going Forward being billed as a sitcom and ‘dark comedy’, it’s more of a drama which uses wit to lighten up its otherwise grim themes. At times, it feels like a Mike Leigh play in the way they both find humour in otherwise sad or prosaic experiences, and with more emphasis on characterisation than plot. The characters in Going Forward are brought to life by a talented cast making the most of its intelligent, perceptive script. While its sister-series Getting On blatantly criticised the circumstances the NHS finds itself in, Going Forward’s focus is more subtle and personal – how capitalism’s rationing of resources affects how we care for and relate to other people. Unfortunately, the series only ran to three episodes, presumably due to a lack of budget rather than ideas.

Mike Foster