SPGB Meetings (1990)

Party News from the September 1990 issue of the Socialist Standard

Cry from the Bronx (1987)

TV Review from the September 1987 issue of the Socialist Standard

Watching The Bronx: A Cry For Help (C4. 27 July) you could be forgiven for thinking you were seeing bombed cities during world war two. We were shown a landscape of rubble and rubbish; we were told of rats the size of cats, the lack of basic amenities like water and heating, the high rents and landlords who would do nothing for their tenants; and we were told of the spread of poverty from a few streets to many.

Meanwhile what were the politicians doing about the conditions in the South Bronx? Making promises of course! Jimmy Carter promised 56 million dollars in aid. It did not materialise. Ronald Reagan told the people of South Bronx that he could not do anything unless elected as president. He was elected but did nothing. In fact doing nothing seemed like a deliberate policy: a New York City official hoped that the people would move away so that the whole area could be bulldozed. The capitalist system runs for the minority and if you're poor you're meant to be thankful for what you've got — even if it's akin to a bomb site.

The Bronx: A Cry For Help showed a side of the "Land of the Free" that is seldom seen — the degrading poverty that exists alongside the extreme wealth of the few.

Brendan Cummings

Market not the only way to live (1992)

From the November 1992 issue of the Socialist Standard

Many organisations (including the United Nations, Oxfam and Christian Aid) know the world has the resources for all humanity to live comfortably.

The question therefore comes to mind—why isn't the whole of humanity living comfortably?

The worldwide organisation of society will not allow human needs to be met. “Needs" are measured by the “market”. You can have anything you want, from baked beans to human beings, as long as you can afford to pay for it. We all know that what we want and need and what we can afford are not necessarily the same thing.

Supporters of the market would defend it by saying “the market system rewards hard work and enterprise". Following this “logic" means coming up with the ridiculous conclusion that because of what they are paid some people can work a hundred times harder than a nurse or an ambulance driver.

Surely the very fact that present society has the capacity for everyone to live comfortably but won’t allow this to happen is in itself proof that a new society is needed?

 

Those who argue against “market forces” in the NHS should consider being against market forces in all areas of life.

Those who do not want to pay the poll tax but will pay (however grudgingly) for everything else should consider the idea that we should not have to pay for anything, i.e. that we should organise society to provide all goods and services free for all.

Those opposed to the obscenity and insanity of millions starving while food is stored and destroyed should also consider the case for producing goods and services for needs instead of the current "pay or do without” and "profit before need” society.

Those who believe there is basically nothing wrong with the money system should ask themselves, doesn't the very existence of thousands of reform groups and charities tell you otherwise?

The society of mansions and cardboard boxes isn't the only way to live. You owe it to yourself to find out about the alternative.

Brendan Cummings