Messenger boys (1984)

From the November 1984 issue of the Socialist Standard

The various Christian churches seem to be hitting the secular headlines recently with the Catholic church, by far the biggest, taking the lead. For the last year or so it has been deeply embroiled with the larger than life moneylenders of the international banking world. But it isn’t (as the innocent Catholic might think) the Children of Christ condemning the moneylenders, calling on them to “Store up their riches in Heaven and not on earth where they will rust and be eaten up by moths.”

A collection of about 120 foreign banks and other creditors want to know what has happened to £916 million of their money which was last seen passing through an intricate network of companies and subsidiaries from Liechtenstein to Peru, mostly owned by the Vatican Bank (IOR). Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, ex-head of the Vatican Bank, has been intimately linked with this mysterious affair. A one-time diplomat in the Vatican, Marcinkus seems to have been unwise in the company he kept while head of the Vatican Bank, for two of his closest associates were Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi. Sindona, a successful Sicilian banker, has been convicted of fraud and misappropriation of funds while Calvi. ex-member of the infamous masonic lodge P2. belter known as “God’s Banker”, recently slipped secretly out of Italy. He crossed the Gulf of Trieste to Yugoslavia and London, apparently to hang himself from Blackfriars Bridge, first taking the precaution of filling his pockets with stones and placing half a brick down the front of his trousers.

As with any good story, the plot thickens. In July 1978 Pope Paul VI died and was succeeded by a Pope John Paul I. Pope John Paul I died a few months later in September 1978. Allegations have been made that Pope John Paul I was poisoned because he had uncovered the financial wheeling and dealing of the Vatican Bank and objected to it. Contradictory statements by the Vatican about the circumstances of the death only encourage suspicion. Who really did discover the body? What was the Pope really reading when he died in bed?

All this has cast some doubt on the infallibility of the papacy. How could the Vatican get itself into such an embarrassing mess? Even if Pope Paul VI didn't know what was going on under his very nose (Marcinkus’s office was directly beneath the Papal apartments) you would have thought God would have had a quiet word in his ear. After all the Pope, so they tell us, is our direct link with God.

Of course, the Vatican hasn't admitted to making a mistake. It never does. Nevertheless, Archbishop Marcinkus has applied for immunity from prosecution by the Italian Judiciary. The Vatican Bank has also agreed to pay creditors £180 million. confidently expecting to recoup the loss from contributions by working class catholics.

While the Vatican is uneasily wearing the cloak of infallibility the Church of England has attributed falling attendances to the rigidity and inflexibility of ideas, which haven’t changed much in centuries. It has realised that the mumbo-jumbo of the past that worked quite well is seen to be more and more ridiculous. To counter this it has decided to invent some more modern mumbo-jumbo, adapted from the old stuff. Oxbridge theologians have been telling us that a lot of the Bible isn't strictly true, that the meaning and symbolism of what is written in the Bible is more important than whether or not it actually occurred in history. This innovative bit of philosophical sophistry has not gone unnoticed by the more conservative members of the clergy.The result has been a bitter debate about whether the Virgin Mary was or wasn’t.

In July David Jenkins, a leading advocate for change, was consecrated in York Minster as the Bishop of Durham amid protests and interruptions. A few days later there was an unhappy coincidence when the south transept of the Minster was struck by lightning and burnt down. Not surprisingly some of the clergy put this down to a divine thunderbolt, sent by a merciful God as an act of retribution. Fortunately, York Minster was insured by an ecclesiastical insurance company even if it is paradoxical for the church to be insuring itself against acts of God.

So while the Catholic church is grappling with financial corruption and infallibility, the Church of England is trying to reinterpret the work of God. A church that isn't as burdened with outmoded ideas and traditions inherited from previous centuries is Billy Graham's Evangelism. Everybody living in the English provinces must have noticed Big Brother Billy staring down at them from bill boards. His square set jaw. menacing smile and piercing eyes encourage the question “Would I buy a second-hand car from this man?”, especially in view of the personal testimony from ex-President Richard Nixon: “Billy Graham is one of the giants of our time”. But Dr. Billy isn’t the man he was in 1949 when he terrified all those who would like to sec 1950 with Christian threats like “Communism is inspired, directed and motivated by the devil himself. Either communism must die or Christianity must die”. A couple of years ago he went to preach in that nest of demons and devil worshippers, Moscow. Having been well treated by the puppets of Satan, he returned to cause a storm with some inane comments about the benevolent nature of the Russian state.

For a few months this year Graham was on Mission England. Backed up by technicians, campaign managers, thousand-voice choirs, security heavies and the all important $40 million business machine. Billy visited Bristol. Norwich, Sunderland, Birmingham. Liverpool and Ipswich. It must have been quite a spectacle to sec him preaching from the hallowed turf of Anfield. to hear the stadium echoing to the songs of praise, though not the usual irreverent and profane type. No doubt there was a deathly hush as Billy asked the spectators if they could hear Jesus knocking to come in. Jesus certainly wouldn't have been the first to be locked out of Anfield anyway.

Billy is not, as some might think, a man of peace, for when our masters’ property and profits are threatened he believes in the necessity of defence — of killing people and not turning the other cheek. Although he has gone to great pains to appear concerned about the problems of his flock such as unemployment and poverty, these are problems that God has spared Billy, who lives in a converted log cabin on a 200 acre site in America and receives a salary of $55,000 a year.

It’s all very easy poking fun at the Church now that the age of inquisition and witch burnings is over, but it is beside the point. Why do these ridiculous people and institutions exist? Why do so many people believe in what they say?

It is not possible to prove or disprove the existence of God. who exists only for people who have "faith”, a belief in something for which there is no material evidence. The evidence that Christians will give for the existence of a God is their faith. How could they believe in something of which there is no material evidence (except a book of dubious origin and authenticity) unless that belief was inspired by God himself? Their god is supposed to give them faith and this explains, for them, why they have faith. To break this circle of "God exists because 1 believe in God", it is necessary to understand why Christianity is so appealing to many people.

We live in a friendless society of competition. insecurity and. for many of us, absolute poverty. We live in a cruel and impersonal world, over which we seem to have no control. Most Christians would refer to all this as "suffering”. But they offer a unique "solution” to those who arc suffering, which is most of us — a philosophy, a set of ideas, that turns this suffering from something pointless and wasteful into something worthwhile. If we believe in God and Jesus Christ and accept the suffering doled out to us by the world, so they tell us, we will go to a much better place at the end of it and there live forever. The meek acceptance of suffering is a sort of lest and the better we do. the better the chance that we will be rewarded.

This, in essence, is very much like working for a wage. You graft for eight hours a day in a job you hate for the promise of a wage packet at the end of the week. The difference is that there is no pie in the sky at the end of your stint down here. Only worms and maggots. The idea of Christianity also gives you a sense of control over your ow n life for you can participate in the kingdom of Heaven. In every sense Christianity is masochistic, it dupes you into enjoying pain and suffering. It anaesthetises you against the stresses and strains of society. Once accepted, it becomes more difficult to face up to the real horrors of society

DB

Voice From The Back: It’s All Greek to him (2002)

The Voice From The Back Column from the September 2002 issue of the Socialist Standard

It’s All Greek to him 

Another statement from the US government to rival that of the famous ‘Most of our imports come from abroad’ surfaced recently. George Bush is reported in the Sunday Times (21 July) as saying, ‘You know the trouble with the French, they don’t even have a word for entrepreneur’. With such a grasp of foreign affairs the fate of the free world is surely in safe hands.

New Labour and old workers 

An independent charity, Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), have recently investigated more than 2,400 complaints about abuse suffered by the elderly. It makes sad reading for any worker who was foolish enough to vote for the Labour Party, at the last election. According to the survey, one in three old people suffer some form of psychological abuse; one in five is physically abused and the same number conned out of their savings; more than 10 percent are neglected and 2.4 percent sexually abused. Almost 400,000 old people receive home help from largely untrained carers funded by their local council, and the study’s authors fear the scale of abuse will rise after last week’s revelations that 64,000 places in care homes have been lost since Labour came to power in 1997, with the closure of 827 private and voluntary care homes last year alone. Observer (21 July)

Why we need socialism 

During August the sponsor-a-child charity Plan launched a campaign for funds that revealed an appalling picture of world poverty inside capitalism. There are 600 million children who live on less than 70p a day – that’s more than ten times the UK population. In Africa, Latin America and large areas of Asia, acute poverty is depriving children of good health. They are dying needlessly from malnutrition and avoidable infections or diseases spread through contaminated water. So, there we have at least 600 million reasons why we need socialism.

Caring capitalism (1) 

Under the headline of Carey to teach business moguls the joys of caring capitalism, we learn from the Sunday Times (4 August) how much the Church of England supports the capitalist system.The outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, is to take on a new role teaching world business leaders about ‘caring capitalism’. He has been appointed chairman of the newly created religious leaders’ advisory council to the World Economic Forum (WEF)… He said: ‘I am certainly no enemy of the creation of wealth . . . some of the most caring and committed Christians I know are successful businessmen and women’.

Caring capitalism (2) 

New York cops are getting used to handcuffing disgraced executives instead of drug dealers. The surrender of Scott Sullivan and David Nyers, the former financial chiefs at WorldCom, come hard on the heels of two high-profile corporate arrests over recent weeks. Only a fortnight ago, three members of the Rigas family, which founded Adelphia Communications, were arrested on charges of ‘rampant self-dealing’ and ‘brazen theft’. Last month Sam Waksal, founder of ImClone Systems, the biotechnology company, was arrested at his Manhattan loft on charges of insider stock trading Times (2 August)

Caring capitalism (3) 

Under the heading Iraq war would be good for markets` the Sunday Times (4 August) reported on an economic forecast by, no doubt caring, capitalists with strong Christian convictions.An American-led war against Iraq could be ‘strongly positive’ for financial markets, a new analysis says. It challenges the view that an attack on Iraq in an attempt to overthrow Saddam Hussein, would hit the market and the economy by pushing up oil prices. The report by economists at Credit SuisseFirst Boston (CSFB), suggests the oil market is already discounting a war. The subdued world economy means that demand is weak, so the effect on prices of a conflict would be temporary and minor. The bank also believes that a successful operation against Iraq, or even what is described as a ‘non-disastrous operation, would provide a boost for the markets’.

Does capitalism have a conscience? (2002)

From the August 2002 issue of the Socialist Standard

“When abuses like this begin to surface in the corporate world, it is time to reaffirm the basic principles and rules that make capitalism work: truthful books and honest people, and well-enforced laws against fraud and corruption. All investment is an act of faith, and faith is earned by integrity. In the long run, there’s no capitalism without conscience; there is no wealth without character.”

Thus spoke President George W Bush to Wall Street on 9 July in the wake of the biggest corporate fraud in history as stock markets around the world were reeling from the news that WorldCom, the US phone company, had admitted to a $4 billion hole in its accounts. As WorldCom’s share price fell from $60 to $2 it was further revealed that Xerox, the multinational photocopying and printing company had similarly overstated its profits by $billions.

 

At the end of last year energy multinational Enron, caused panic on the world’s stock markets when it emerged the company had hidden debts of $9 billion. Other financial scandals have involved Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen, Tyco and Adelphi Communications, prompting many investors and economists to wonder just how deep corporate malfeasance is and whether any company offering shares can really be trusted.

The truth is that there must be thousands of firms out there telling porkies about their profits in an attempt to raise their stock market rating. And there are reasons for this. Because capitalism is a ruthlessly competitive system, each company aims to maximise its share of its respective market and to get the better of its competitors. When a company inflates its profits its share price typically increases. More people are prepared to buy shares in profitable companies and “profitable” companies find it easier to borrow with a view to investing in newer technology that can win them a greater share of profits and undermine the efforts of their competitors. The problems, however, is that future profits are purely guesswork. No one can realistically predict demand (it’s not a natural science). And when a company can’t meet the expectations of its shareholders, panic sets in, with all concerned running away from the sinking ship with whatever they can carry.

Bush would do well to remember that it is not “truthful books and honest people . . . that make capitalism work”, but the drive to make profit, whether it be through the creation of false needs, warfare, artificial scarcity or planned obsolescence. And if there were “well-enforced laws against fraud and corruption” in the corporate world, Bush himself would never have become president and America’s prison population would be twice its present size.

More importantly, however, Bush’s speech focused on a few individuals, giving the impression that a few nefarious persons had tarnished the good character of capitalism – a move totally designed to distract from the real nature of the beast. Capitalism is an oppressive and exploitative system in which human needs come a poor second to the requirements of profit, a system that consigns billions to lives to abject misery. Its indifference to the hardship of the real wealth creators is evidenced in the present instance by the fact that while the “honest” bosses at WorldCom have pocketed $millions in the perpetration of their scam, the company now wants to sack 17,000 of its workers; the same workers it encouraged to invest their hard-earned retirement funds in company shares in the full knowledge those same shares would lose value. Prior to the recent scandal these retirement plans-cum-shares shares were worth almost $220 million; at the moment they are valued at $4.4 million. “No capitalism without conscience”, Mr Bush?

Neither was there room in Bush’s lecture on corporate ethics to Wall Street for mention of the practices of monopolies and oligopolies, of the market power of the likes of Exxon-Mobile, Ford or Wal-Mart, whose revenues are larger than the national budgets of many countries; whose power is such that even the US government is afraid to curtail their shenanigans. While Bush can lecture Wall Street on corporate “ethics”, given half the chance these bastards would apply for a patent on the very air we breathe. Where there are profits to be had, honesty and conscience, ethics and values are swept under the carpet and trodden upon.

So is the current crisis evidence that the capitalist system is about to come tumbling down? No – production for profit will continue apace and will still be impinging on every aspect of our lives for some time to come as no crisis lasts forever.

What the recent scandals reveal is that corporate greed is endemic to the system and that financial regulators were not regulating all that well. Indeed, it is possible that eventually US Capitalism PLC may come away from this fiasco stronger than before, with corporations (in the wake of Bush’s speech and the now widespread demands for tighter regulations) winning more confidence from investors.

So put away the bunting and party-poppers and calm down. Capitalism may be going through one of its periodic crises but it is going to have to be dismantled the hard way – with a class conscious majority bringing about its end by democratic means. Because in the long run, that is the only storm capitalism cannot weather.

John Bissett