tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81405926195295840342024-03-19T04:45:42.891+00:00Under The Sycamore TreeRobin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-1446323137728386392014-07-16T13:16:00.001+01:002014-07-16T13:16:12.582+01:00Cabinet ReshuffleThe member of cabinet most representative of the collective failure of contemporary politicians must be Matthew Hancock. This is an individual who grew up in Chester, went to an independent school, up to Oxford to read PPE and then Cambridge to do MPhil in Economics. Following graduation he worked briefly in his family company before landing a role as an economist for the Bank of England. After less than 5 years work experience he becomes an advisor to George Osborne and then 5 years later lands a safe seat in West Suffolk. After 3 years carrying Osborne's bags he finds himself as Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise, where he stays for a year before becoming Minister of State for Energy, Minister of State for Business, Minister of State for Portsmouth and a seat at Cabinet.<br />
<br />
I am sure that Mr Hancock is good with numbers, however if you can't relate that to how people think, act and behave then what use are you as a legislator? His industrial experience is purely academic and his most recent experience entirely based in the Westminster bubble. I don't doubt he is a capable and intelligent person, but if he is the best person to lead on Business - zero experience - and Energy - zero experience - then I am a monkey's uncle. Leadership is no just about having the skills to manage a team or a budget but deciding on the direction of travel and getting the most out of your team and the people who feed in to your team. He has two briefs that are integral to the industrial future of our nation and yet he has limited exposure to how the world works outside central London.<br />
<br />
Labour also has this problem and I for one find it very disconcerting. I really think that the evolution of the SPAD gravy train will be a bad thing for British governments. Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-22217641170142922312014-07-09T19:10:00.001+01:002014-07-09T19:10:09.995+01:00Wall Street (Martha Tilston) - where does the money go to?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mxa5Zn-7L4s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
“We know too much</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
About having too much</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
To ever go under again”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
“Where does the money flow from?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Where does it go?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
And who’s going without today”<br />
<br />
The most poignant line in this is surely the last one. The rise of food banks in the UK and across the developed world is a stain on our so-caleld civilised society.<br />
<br />
The only true futures market is our children, and the planet they live on. We urgently need to invest in a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_New_Deal"> green new deal</a> to secure a sustainable future <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-34780962265499748432014-07-09T09:57:00.002+01:002014-07-10T09:47:44.024+01:00Plus ca change, plus ca la meme chose<div class="MsoNormal">
The nature of electoral politics is that towards the end of
an electoral cycle all thoughts turn towards the next opportunity for victory
or defeat. This is particularly true now that we have a fixed term for
parliamentary elections. It was upon this line of thought that I decided to
investigate whether my twitter friend @DorsetRachel had been selected as a
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset. Rachelcurrently serves
as a councillor for part of Weymouth, which is in the neighbouring constituency of South Dorset. I was pleased to find out that she has
been selected, but then rather dismayed to find out that West Dorset has never
even come close to having a Labour MP. In fact West Dorset has had only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Dorset_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29">6
different MPs since 1885</a> and all of them Conservative. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This may not be situation peculiar to this part of England,
but causes me more sorrow in the knowledge that this constituency contains the
village of Tolpuddle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The village made
famous for the 6 martyrs who, 180 years ago this March, were sentenced to
transportation for the crime of making an oath. Their real crime, in the eyes
of the landowners, was in forming a union to organise agricultural labourers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Life in southern England was harsh then, the Enclosure Acts
meant that rural people no longer had access to fields to grow their own food
and instead had to buy food on the open market. An economic depression in the
1830s led to rural unemployment and more pressure on the Poor Law System.
Technological innovation meant that the labourers had just had their pay
reduced for a third time, from 10s a week down to 6s a week, but prices for
food began to rise as London and the industrial north prospered. The labourers
were starving as costs outstripped their income. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Poverty data for <a href="https://www.dorsetforyou.com/406932">2012</a> shows that there are still
many people in Dorset who rely on the support of their community to
survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One fifth of people in Weymouth
and Portland live in houses that receive housing benefit, a figure that rises
to 28.6% when you consider only those under the age 20. The adjacent West Dorset has seen
the biggest proportional increase since 2011 and now almost one in five people
aged under 20 live in households reliant on benefit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dorset, like many other parts of Great Britain, is grossly
unequal. Pockets of mass deprivation reside cheek by jowl with the second-homes
of affluent city-dwellers and the estates of the land-owning elite. The balance
of income and opportunity is barely indiscernible from the days of Thomas Hardy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bridport, Weymouth, Portland and Somerford are
among the <a href="https://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=162073&filetype=pdf">20%
most deprived areas</a> in the UK and appear like islands on the <a href="https://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=162069&filetype=pdf">map
of multiple deprivations</a> with seas of affluence around them. The maps for
income, employment, education and skills, health and disability, IDACI and crime
all follow a similar pattern. There are two maps, however, that paint a
different picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are the Living Environment Domain and Barriers to
Housing and Services Domain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of
these are related to the quality of and access to housing and local services. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC82sMEo_kePDKooLmwU8csb4uSZS1F_-14O0WhrpSAZbySkhHOM9YBn9qsNlsIzKQ1ZTgnVEGRMtA-QdAOam6T_vpceVa0RT9YM8qQxIUPr-minT39IeAk1ZJbqceOGFFlMIQ0iOvo32o/s1600/DCC+poverty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC82sMEo_kePDKooLmwU8csb4uSZS1F_-14O0WhrpSAZbySkhHOM9YBn9qsNlsIzKQ1ZTgnVEGRMtA-QdAOam6T_vpceVa0RT9YM8qQxIUPr-minT39IeAk1ZJbqceOGFFlMIQ0iOvo32o/s1600/DCC+poverty.jpg" height="451" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=162073&filetype=pdf </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reasons that these barriers exist are many. One
explanation is the presence of second homes in the county that artificially
increases the notional value of housing (a problem shared with Devon, Cornwall
and Cumbria, among others). The main barrier to service provision is the
geography of the county, a problem very different from those faced by cities. The
relatively large proportion of retired people in both West and East Dorset also
provides a different challenge. A problem that is shared with many other areas
is the relative low pay received by peoples working within Dorset. The relative
proportion of <a href="https://www.dorsetforyou.com/345144">socio-economic</a>
groups within the county is broadly similar to the national average, however the
<a href="https://www.dorsetforyou.com/403076">median pay</a> of a worker in
Weymouth is less than 82% that of the national figure. Furthermore although the
median pay of a worker in West Dorset is 31% higher than those in, for example,
<a href="http://westyorkshireobservatory.org/dataviews/view?viewId=12">West
Yorkshire</a>, the price of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/counties/html/county104.stm">housin</a>g
is approximately 74% greater. I think it is also interesting to note the large
disparity between the median pay of those living in East Dorset, a largely
affluent area, and those who only work in East Dorset. An issue that those who
live in larger urban areas will recognise, particularly London where the
workers are being forced to travel greater distances to get to their place of
work from places where they can afford to live.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In both 1834 and 2014 the population of rural counties have
faced recession and falling wages; they have had limited opportunity to improve
their own lot and are instead reliant on other agencies or relocation to
provide subsistence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important to
note that these deprivation figures are from 2010. They were therefore recorded
after 13 years of a Labour government that did much to help many, but did not
do enough for some. I would hope, however, that were the electorate to return a
Labour government in 2015 that next time around they would pay far more
attention to solving the problems that have afflicted counties like Dorset and
Lincolnshire for centuries. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Politics within Dorset, and much of the south of England,
has been dominated by the Conservative Party or its forebears for centuries, a
dominance that has resulted in the maintenance of the status quo. A county run by
and for the interests of the wealthy and ignoring the interests of the young
and disadvantaged. I hope that the next Labour government can deliver on their
ambitious housing and infrastructure programme but the real leveller would be a
land value tax. To make a difference to the quality of living environments and
to remove barriers to housing and services we need to find a more progressive
way of raising tax. The ownership of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/07/tim-adams-who-owns-britain">land
within Dorset</a> is emblematic of land ownership within the UK. A small
minority of people own vast swathes of the countryside, some of them have even
been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gascoyne-Cecil,_3rd_Marquess_of_Salisbury">Conservative
ministers</a> and some of them <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Drax">still are</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For people living in these villages they are
trapped in a feudal lifestyle, unchanged for centuries, they work on the land,
are paid a pittance and rely on the land-owner for accommodation. This
inequality is not as visible as in the major cities, but it is just as
important. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Labour is to win a majority in the next election then I
think they will have to win some seats in southern England (that are outside
London). Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, has <a href="http://labourmajority.org.uk/article1/#.U7a4ObFwj-t">written</a> that
Labour cannot simply rely on the Conservatives losing the election, we need to
win it. Jim Knight recognises this and has written about the need to deliver on
the <a href="http://www.labourcoastandcountry.com/2014/06/27/delivering-on-the-politics-of-the-periphery/">politics
of the periphery</a> and the need for Labour to gain seats in the coast and
countryside. The key to this will be policies that improve access to housing
and local services. This could be rural bus services, rural GPs and dentists
and more and better housing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the last 180 years the power of trade unions has ebbed
and flowed but one thing remains certain, the power of capital over labour has
never been truly challenged. To win the next election Labour will have to win
seats in the countryside. Winning in South Dorset, the constituency that Jim
Knight represented until 2010, would be a severe blow to the Conservatives. I
would also like Labour to embrace the history of the union link and try to win
what would be a significant victory in West Dorset, the home of the Tolpuddle
martyrs and the seat of Oliver Letwin MP. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the six men of Tolpuddle were sentenced to
transportation there was a mass outcry and a campaign for their release was
organised by the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union. A march was held in
April 1834 with over 100,000 people attending and over the next few months petitions
were sent to parliament with over 800,000 signatures. In 1835 all six of the
men were granted a conditional pardon, although they turned it down and
continued the fight. The next year, on 14th March 1836, the government agreed that
all the men should have a full and free pardon. Trade unions had won and
survived their first big challenge. The six farm workers from Tolpuddle were on
their way home as free men. This is proof, were it needed that by the strength
of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone. By creating a
coalition of coast, country and city we can create for each of us the means to
realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth
and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few.<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
This article was amended on the 10th July to state that Weymouth and Portland are in the South Dorset Constituency, not West Dorset, as the original wording stated. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-49623569266842990402014-07-09T09:24:00.000+01:002014-07-09T09:24:44.597+01:00SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND - SHELLEYMen of England, wherefore plough<br />
For the lords who lay ye low?<br />
Wherefore weave with toil and care<br />
The rich robes your tyrants wear?<br />
<br />
Wherefore feed and clothe and save,<br />
From the cradle to the grave,<br />
Those ungrateful drones who would<br />
Drain your sweat -nay, drink your blood?<br />
<br />
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge<br />
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,<br />
That these stingless drones may spoil<br />
The forced produce of your toil?<br />
<br />
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,<br />
Shelter, food, love's gentle balm?<br />
Or what is it ye buy so dear<br />
With your pain and with your fear?<br />
<br />
The seed ye sow another reaps;<br />
The wealth ye find another keeps; <br />
The robes ye weave another wears;<br />
The arms ye forge another bears.<br />
<br />
Sow seed, -but let no tyrant reap;<br />
Find wealth, -let no imposter heap;<br />
Weave robes, -let not the idle wear;<br />
Forge arms, in your defence to bear.<br />
<br />
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;<br />
In halls ye deck another dwells.<br />
Why shake the chains ye wrought?<br />
Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.<br />
<br />
With plough and spade and hoe and loom,<br />
Trace your grave, and build your tomb,<br />
And weave your winding-sheet, till fair<br />
England be your sepulchre!Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-14280603929627699532014-07-08T16:25:00.001+01:002014-07-08T16:25:43.420+01:00The Cry of the Unemployed - Chartist Poetry<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="AutoNumber4"><tbody>
<tr><td><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;">
<b>THE CRY OF THE UNEMPLOYED.</b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br />
Tis' hard! tis' hard! to wander on through this bright world of ours,—<br />
Beneath a sky of smiling blue,—on velvet paths of flowers:<br />
With music in the woods, as there were nought but pleasure known,<br />
Or angels walked earth's solitudes:—and yet with want to groan!<br />
To see no beauty in the stars, nor in the sun's glad smile;<br />
To wail and wander misery-cursed! willing, but cannot toil!<br />
There's burning sickness at my heart: I sink down famished:<br />
God of the wretched, hear my prayer! I would that I were dead!<br />
<br />
Heaven droppeth down with manna still in many a golden shower,<br />
And feeds the leaves with fragrant breath, with silver dew, the<br />
flower:<br />
There's honeyed fruit for bee and bird, with bloom laughs out the<br />
tree;<br />
There's food for all God's happy things; but none gives food to me!<br />
Earth decked with Plenty's garland-crown, smiles on my aching eye;<br />
The purse-proud, swathed in luxury, disdainful pass me by:<br />
I've eager hands—I've earnest heart—but may not work for bread;<br />
God of the wretched, hear my prayer! I would that I were dead!<br />
<br />
Gold art thou not a blessed thing? A charm above all other,<br />
To shut up hearts to nature's cry, when brother pleads with brother!<br />
Hast thou a music sweeter than the loving voice of kindness?<br />
No, curse thee, thou'rt a mist twixt God and men in outer blindness!<br />
"Father, come back!" My children cry! Their voices once so sweet,<br />
Now quiver-lance-like, in my bleeding heart! I cannot meet!<br />
The looks that make the brain go mad, of dear ones asking bread!<br />
God of the wretched hear my prayer! I would that I were dead!<br />
<br />
Lord, what right have the poor to wed? Love's for the gilded great!<br />
Are they not formed of nobler clay who dine off golden plate?<br />
'Tis the worst curse of poverty to have a feeling heart:<br />
Why can I not, with iron grasp, thrust out the tender part?<br />
I cannot slave in yon Bastile! Ah, no! 'twere bitterer pain—<br />
I'd wear the pauper's iron within, than clank the convict's chain!<br />
To work but cannot—starve, I may—but will not beg for bread:<br />
God of the wretched, hear my prayer! I would that I were dead!</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div align="right" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 6;">
G<span style="font-size: x-small;">ERALD</span> M<span style="font-size: x-small;">ASSEY</span>.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
http://gerald-massey.org.uk/massey/dpm_early_poems_2.htm#500216</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
Gerald Massey wrote this 165 years ago, yet it still remains heart-breakingly true. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-15229804956088225072014-07-08T15:49:00.006+01:002014-07-08T15:49:50.839+01:00The voice of the people - Chartist poetry<img alt="'The Voice of the People' - Chartist Poem" src="http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/Campaign_MAI/chartism/poem2-large.jpg" /><br />
http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/Campaign_MAI/chartism/large92918.html Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-81824145469891395792014-07-06T17:08:00.001+01:002014-07-06T17:08:30.882+01:00The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists - a song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PHY4a-ZS4cw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-3846283803248392992014-07-06T15:53:00.003+01:002014-07-06T15:53:50.520+01:00The Great Money Trick<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Robert Tressel (Robert Noonan) wrote the Ragged Trousered Philanthoprist in 1910. The main themes remain relevant today. In one chapter Tressel explains how the landlord and capitalist class create and maintain their wealth (or you </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">could read Thomas Piketty's</span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">extremely long book). </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span> <br />
“'Money is the cause of poverty because it is the device by which those who
are too lazy to work are enabled to rob the workers of the fruits of their
labours.' <br />
'Prove it,' said Crass. <br />
Owen slowly folded up the piece of newspaper he had been reading and put it
into his pocket. <br />
'All right,' he replied. 'I'll show you how the Great Money Trick is
worked.' <br />
Owen opened his dinner basket and took from it two slices of bread but as
these were not sufficient, he requested that anyone who had some bread left
would give it to him. They gave him several pieces, which he placed in a heap
on a clean piece of paper, and, having borrowed the pocket knives they used to
cut and eat their dinners with from Easton, Harlow and Philpot, he addressed them as follows: <br />
'These pieces of bread represent the raw materials which exist naturally in
and on the earth for the use of mankind; they were not made by any human being,
but were created by the Great Spirit for the benefit and sustenance of all, the
same as were the air and the light of the sun.' <br />
'You're about as fair-speakin' a man as I've met for some time,' said Harlow, winking at the others. <br />
'Yes, mate,' said Philpot. 'Anyone would agree to that much! It's as clear
as mud.' <br />
'Now,' continued Owen, 'I am a capitalist; or, rather, I represent the
landlord and capitalist class. That is to say, all these raw materials belong
to me. It does not matter for our present argument how I obtained possession of
them, or whether I have any real right to them; the only thing that matters now
is the admitted fact that all the raw materials which are necessary for the
production of the necessaries of life are now the property of the Landlord and
Capitalist class. I am that class: all these raw materials belong to me.' <br />
'Good enough!' agreed Philpot. <br />
'Now you three represent the Working class: you have nothing--and for my
part, although I have all these raw materials, they are of no use to me--what I
need is--the things that can be made out of these raw materials by Work: but as
I am too lazy to work myself, I have invented the Money Trick to make you work
FOR me. But first I must explain that I possess something else beside the raw
materials. These three knives represent--all the machinery of production; the
factories, tools, railways, and so forth, without which the necessaries of life
cannot be produced in abundance. And these three coins'--taking three
halfpennies from his pocket--'represent my Money Capital.' <br />
'But before we go any further,' said Owen, interrupting himself, 'it is most
important that you remember that I am not supposed to be merely "a"
capitalist. I represent the whole Capitalist Class. You are not supposed to be
just three workers--you represent the whole Working Class.' <br />
'All right, all right,' said Crass, impatiently, 'we all understand that.
Git on with it.' <br />
Owen proceeded to cut up one of the slices of bread into a number of little
square blocks. <br />
'These represent the things which are produced by labour, aided by
machinery, from the raw materials. We will suppose that three of these blocks
represent--a week's work. We will suppose that a week's work is worth--one
pound: and we will suppose that each of these ha'pennies is a sovereign. We'd
be able to do the trick better if we had real sovereigns, but I forgot to bring
any with me.' <br />
'I'd lend you some,' said Philpot, regretfully, 'but I left me purse on our
grand pianner.' <br />
As by a strange coincidence nobody happened to have any gold with them, it
was decided to make shift with the halfpence. <br />
'Now this is the way the trick works--' <br />
'Before you goes on with it,' interrupted Philpot, apprehensively, 'don't
you think we'd better 'ave someone to keep watch at the gate in case a Slop
comes along? We don't want to get runned in, you know.' <br />
'I don't think there's any need for that,' replied Owen, 'there's only one
slop who'd interfere with us for playing this game, and that's Police Constable
Socialism.' <br />
'Never mind about Socialism,' said Crass, irritably. 'Get along with the
bloody trick.' <br />
Owen now addressed himself to the working classes as represented by Philpot,
Harlow and Easton.
<br />
'You say that you are all in need of employment, and as I am the
kind-hearted capitalist class I am going to invest all my money in various
industries, so as to give you Plenty of Work. I shall pay each of you one pound
per week, and a week's work is--you must each produce three of these square
blocks. For doing this work you will each receive your wages; the money will be
your own, to do as you like with, and the things you produce will of course be
mine, to do as I like with. You will each take one of these machines and as
soon as you have done a week's work, you shall have your money.' <br />
The Working Classes accordingly set to work, and the Capitalist class sat
down and watched them. As soon as they had finished, they passed the nine
little blocks to Owen, who placed them on a piece of paper by his side and paid
the workers their wages. <br />
'These blocks represent the necessaries of life. You can't live without some
of these things, but as they belong to me, you will have to buy them from me:
my price for these blocks is--one pound each.' <br />
As the working classes were in need of the necessaries of life and as they
could not eat, drink or wear the useless money, they were compelled to agree to
the kind Capitalist's terms. They each bought back and at once consumed
one-third of the produce of their labour. The capitalist class also devoured
two of the square blocks, and so the net result of the week's work was that the
kind capitalist had consumed two pounds worth of the things produced by the
labour of the others, and reckoning the squares at their market value of one
pound each, he had more than doubled his capital, for he still possessed the
three pounds in money and in addition four pounds worth of goods. As for the
working classes, Philpot, Harlow and Easton, having each consumed the pound's
worth of necessaries they had bought with their wages, they were again in
precisely the same condition as when they started work--they had nothing. <br />
This process was repeated several times: for each week's work the producers
were paid their wages. They kept on working and spending all their earnings.
The kind-hearted capitalist consumed twice as much as any one of them and his
pile of wealth continually increased. In a little while--reckoning the little
squares at their market value of one pound each--he was worth about one hundred
pounds, and the working classes were still in the same condition as when they
began, and were still tearing into their work as if their lives depended upon
it. <br />
After a while the rest of the crowd began to laugh, and their merriment
increased when the kind-hearted capitalist, just after having sold a pound's
worth of necessaries to each of his workers, suddenly took their tools--the
Machinery of Production--the knives away from them, and informed them that as
owing to Over Production all his store-houses were glutted with the necessaries
of life, he had decided to close down the works. <br />
'Well, and wot the bloody 'ell are we to do now?' demanded Philpot. <br />
'That's not my business,' replied the kind-hearted capitalist. 'I've paid
you your wages, and provided you with Plenty of Work for a long time past. I
have no more work for you to do at present. Come round again in a few months'
time and I'll see what I can do for you.' <br />
'But what about the necessaries of life?' demanded Harlow.
'We must have something to eat.' <br />
'Of course you must,' replied the capitalist, affably; 'and I shall be very
pleased to sell you some.' <br />
'But we ain't got no bloody money!' <br />
'Well, you can't expect me to give you my goods for nothing! You didn't work
for me for nothing, you know. I paid you for your work and you should have
saved something: you should have been thrifty like me. Look how I have got on
by being thrifty!' <br />
The unemployed looked blankly at each other, but the rest of the crowd only
laughed; and then the three unemployed began to abuse the kind-hearted
Capitalist, demanding that he should give them some of the necessaries of life
that he had piled up in his warehouses, or to be allowed to work and produce
some more for their own needs; and even threatened to take some of the things
by force if he did not comply with their demands. But the kind-hearted
Capitalist told them not to be insolent, and spoke to them about honesty, and
said if they were not careful he would have their faces battered in for them by
the police, or if necessary he would call out the military and have them shot
down like dogs, the same as he had done before at Featherstone and Belfast. <br />
'Of course,' continued the kind-hearted capitalist, 'if it were not for
foreign competition I should be able to sell these things that you have made,
and then I should be able to give you Plenty of Work again: but until I have
sold them to somebody or other, or until I have used them myself, you will have
to remain idle.' <br />
'Well, this takes the bloody biskit, don't it?' said Harlow.
<br />
'The only thing as I can see for it,' said Philpot mournfully, 'is to 'ave a
unemployed procession.' <br />
'That's the idear,' said Harlow, and the three began to march about the room
in Indian file, singing: <br />
<div class="poem">
'We've got no work to do-oo-oo'<br />
We've got no work to do-oo-oo!<br />
Just because we've been workin' a dam sight too hard,<br />
Now we've got no work to do.'</div>
As they marched round, the crowd jeered at them and made offensive remarks.
Crass said that anyone could see that they were a lot of lazy, drunken loafers
who had never done a fair day's work in their lives and never intended to. <br />
'We shan't never get nothing like this, you know,' said Philpot. 'Let's try
the religious dodge.' <br />
'All right,' agreed Harlow. 'What shall we
give 'em?' <br />
'I know!' cried Philpot after a moment's deliberation. '"Let my lower
lights be burning." That always makes 'em part up.' <br />
The three unemployed accordingly resumed their march round the room, singing
mournfully and imitating the usual whine of street-singers: <br />
<div class="poem">
'Trim your fee-bil lamp me brither-in,<br />
Some poor sail-er tempest torst,<br />
Strugglin' 'ard to save the 'arb-er,<br />
Hin the dark-niss may be lorst,<br />
So let try lower lights be burning,<br />
Send 'er gleam acrost the wave,<br />
Some poor shipwrecked, struggling seaman,<br />
You may rescue, you may save.'</div>
'Kind frens,' said Philpot, removing his cap and addressing the crowd,
'we're hall honest British workin' men, but we've been hout of work for the
last twenty years on account of foreign competition and over-production. We
don't come hout 'ere because we're too lazy to work; it's because we can't get
a job. If it wasn't for foreign competition, the kind'earted Hinglish
capitalists would be able to sell their goods and give us Plenty of Work, and
if they could, I assure you that we should hall be perfectly willing and
contented to go on workin' our bloody guts out for the benefit of our masters
for the rest of our lives. We're quite willin' to work: that's hall we arst
for--Plenty of Work--but as we can't get it we're forced to come out 'ere and
arst you to spare a few coppers towards a crust of bread and a night's
lodgin'.' <br />
As Philpot held out his cap for subscriptions, some of them attempted to
expectorate into it, but the more charitable put in pieces of cinder or dirt
from the floor, and the kind-hearted capitalist was so affected by the sight of
their misery that he gave them one of the sovereigns he had in us pocket: but
as this was of no use to them they immediately returned it to him in exchange
for one of the small squares of the necessaries of life, which they divided and
greedily devoured. And when they had finished eating they gathered round the
philanthropist and sang, 'For he's a jolly good fellow,' and afterwards Harlow suggested that they should ask him if he would
allow them to elect him to Parliament"<br />
<br />
<br />
<div itemprop="name">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell</span></i></div>
<div itemprop="name">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3608 </span></i></div>
<div itemprop="name">
<br /></div>
<div itemprop="name">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-14595540137646080052014-07-06T15:45:00.002+01:002014-07-06T15:45:33.903+01:00the Battle for Life - also known as "The Global Race"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
“Happiness might be possible if everyone were unselfish; if everyone thought
of the welfare of his neighbour before thinking of his own. But as there is
only a very small percentage of such unselfish people in the world, the present
system has made the earth into a sort of hell. Under the present system there
is not sufficient of anything for everyone to have enough. Consequently there
is a fight--called by Christians the 'Battle of Life'. In this fight some get
more than they need, some barely enough, some very little, and some none at
all. The more aggressive, cunning, unfeeling and selfish you are the better it
will be for you. As long as this 'Battle
of Life' System endures, we have no right to blame other people for doing the
same things that we are ourselves compelled to do. Blame the system. <br />
But that IS just what the hands did not do. They blamed each other; they
blamed Crass, and Hunter, and Rushton, but with the Great System of which they
were all more or less the victims they were quite content, being persuaded that
it was the only one possible and the best that human wisdom could devise. The
reason why they all believed this was because not one of them had ever troubled
to inquire whether it would not be possible to order things differently. They
were content with the present system. If they had not been content they would
have been anxious to find some way to alter it. But they had never taken the
trouble to seriously inquire whether it was possible to find some better way,
and although they all knew in a hazy fashion that other methods of managing the
affairs of the world had already been proposed, they neglected to inquire
whether these other methods were possible or practicable, and they were ready
and willing to oppose with ignorant ridicule or brutal force any man who was
foolish or quixotic enough to try to explain to them the details of what he
thought was a better way. They accepted the present system in the same way as
they accepted the alternating seasons. They knew that there was spring and
summer and autumn and winter. As to how these different seasons came to be, or
what caused them, they hadn't the remotest notion, and it is extremely doubtful
whether the question had ever occurred to any of them: but there is no doubt
whatever about the fact that none of them knew. From their infancy they had
been trained to distrust their own intelligence, and to leave the management of
the affairs of the world--and for that matter of the next world too--to their
betters; and now most of them were absolutely incapable of thinking of any
abstract subject whatever. Nearly all their betters--that is, the people who do
nothing--were unanimous in agreeing that the present system is a very good one
and that it is impossible to alter or improve it. Therefore Crass and his
mates, although they knew nothing whatever about it themselves, accepted it as
an established, incontrovertible fact that the existing state of things is
immutable. They believed it because someone else told them so. They would have
believed anything: on one condition--namely, that they were told to believe it
by their betters. They said it was surely not for the Like of Them to think
that they knew better than those who were more educated and had plenty of time
to study"<br />
<br />
<pre>The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, by Robert Tressell</pre>
<pre>Available free on Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3608 </pre>
<pre> </pre>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Still think that the Tories know best?<br />
<br />
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-45035560248315465332014-01-27T14:04:00.003+00:002014-01-27T14:10:31.440+00:00Deep Freedom: John Mellencamp - Freedom RoadMy recent post includes several references to speeches by Roberto Unger on the concept of Deep Freedom. In an essay for IPPR Unger defines this concept as:<br />
" In opposition to the political ideas that have most
recently guided ideological controversy around the world, but similarly
to those that used to influence such debate in the 19th century, deep
freedom combines a devotion to the empowerment of the ordinary person – a
raising up of ordinary life to a higher plane of intensity, scope and
capability – with a disposition to reshape the institutional
arrangements of society in the service of such empowerment. In the
design of social, economic and democratic institutions, deep freedom has
priority over any form of equality of circumstance. Equality of
opportunity is a fragmentary aspect of deep freedom."<br />
The converse of deep freedom is of course shallow freedom. I think that these are easier to define, becaouse to most of us they are more tangible. Shallow freedoms are those granted to wage-slaves to give them the impression of choice; the illusion of autonomy. John Mellencamp gives a very incisive depiction of this in his song Freedom's Road.<br />
The obstructions that we find along our journey along Freedom's Road are the same institutional obstructions that prevent people from really being free. Many people are obliged to take poorly paying jobs just to pay the rent or pay for expensive food. They are wage slaves earning a fraction of the value that their work produces and paying a fortune in housing that ultimately will only further enrich the corporate banks. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/pzT7HOo5mEg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road, 2007.</b> <br />
I'm navigating my way down Freedom's Road<br />
Trying to make my way back home<br />
I got my foot to the floor<br />
But she must need bleeding<br />
This car just don't want to roll<br />
Freedom's Road must be under construction<br />
Sometimes you wonder what kind of freedom they're talking<br />
If you're here looking for the devil<br />
You'll find him on Freedom's Road<br />
<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you want to take a ride<br />
Well you've got to pay the toll<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you're looking for the devil<br />
He's out there on Freedom's Road<br />
<br />
Sometimes there's rape sometimes there'll be murder<br />
Sometimes just darkness everywhere<br />
No passing signs and barbed wire fences<br />
Misinformation but no one cares<br />
Freedom's Road can get narrow<br />
No one wants to know you<br />
If there's no pork in your barrel<br />
If you're here looking for the devil<br />
He's out there on Freedom's Road<br />
<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you want to take a ride<br />
Well you've got to pay the toll<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you're looking for the devil<br />
He's out there on Freedom's Road<br />
<br />
You can drop your bombs<br />
You can beat the people senseless<br />
But that won't get you anywhere<br />
Hide your agendas behind public consensus<br />
And say that this world just ain't fair<br />
Freedom's Road is a promise to the people<br />
You'll never fool us now<br />
With all your lying and cheating<br />
If you're here wanting a crown in heaven<br />
It's out there on Freedom's Road<br />
<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you want to take a ride<br />
Well you've got to pay the toll<br />
Freedom's Road, Freedom's Road<br />
If you're looking for the devil<br />
He's out there on Freedom's RoadRobin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-9938608759161846202014-01-27T13:40:00.002+00:002014-01-27T13:40:49.423+00:00Inequality, Ed Miliband and Deep FreedomThis piece was first posted on<a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2014/01/24/ed-miliband-is-the-only-politician-talking-about-what-really-matters-inequality/"> Labour Uncut</a> on 24th January 2014 (Heading by website editor)<br />
<br />
<h2>
Ed Miliband is the only politician talking about what really matters: inequality</h2>
<b>by Robin Thorpe</b><br />
With Ed Miliband’s recent talk of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/10568830/Ed-Miliband-only-Labour-can-rebuild-our-middle-class.html">rebuilding the middle class</a>
and his previous rhetoric of the squeezed middle are we now seeing a
resurgence of class consciousness? Or is Ed just focusing on familiar
words to cloak his lack of credible policies? I sincerely hope it is the
former. The problem with the concept of class is that because the
labour market is now so diverse it can be difficult for people to
identify what class they are. Perhaps, therefore, we should just
recognise that there are broadly only two classes of people; the ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite">power elite’</a> and the rest of us.<br />
I can understand why people may want to cling to the notion that
there is a hierarchy of socio-economic divisions that we can climb up if
we only work hard enough. People have evolved to compete for resources
and societies have long been predicated on prestige and social position.
But surely we must now recognise that the division between the elite
and the rest is so entrenched that it will take more than a bit of pluck
and a protestant work ethic to break the stranglehold of inequality.
Will Hutton has written that he thinks that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/19/inequality-threat-recovery-poverty-pay">Ed Miliband’s “cost of living” crisis is a sideways route into opening up an argument over inequality</a> and I hope that he is right.<br />
Enabling effective change will not be easy; there are many vested
interested who will oppose a recalibration of the way that our economy
works. The obvious attack on Miliband’s ambition is to decry it as
statist and anti-business. Fraser Nelson writes in the Telegraph that a
Labour government implementing this agenda would result in “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/10576877/It-may-take-the-EU-to-save-this-country-from-Ed-Milibands-economic-agenda.html">companies refusing to invest, and wealth-creators leaving</a>”.
This argument ignores the fact that the notion of state vs. business is
a false choice; neither can this choice be defined as socialism vs.
capitalism. Instead it should be defined as shallow versus deep <a href="http://www.ippr.org/juncture/171/11414/deep-freedom-why-the-left-should-abandon-equality">freedom</a>.<br />
Steve Davies from the Institute for Economic Affairs (on Radio 4’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03q6dzp">The Longview</a>)
agrees that the cost of living is a real problem for those on low
wages; in particular the cost of housing. But he also states that
workers must increase their productivity to improve their wage-earning
capacity, as if low wages are their fault for not working hard enough.
Solving the problem of the cost of living will still leave people
dependant on increasingly precarious employment.<br />
<span id="more-17756"></span>A leader in <a href="http://t.co/4alJ1IK6tI">The Economist</a>
recently made a very good case for the importance of skills and
education in combating this phenomenon and why we should invest more in
pre-school and adult learning. But also admits that this will still
result in some people relying on a benevolent state to provide
subsistence. These actions may mitigate the worst aspects of poverty but
they will not ameliorate the effects of inequality. Some inequality is
an inevitable by-product of an organised society, but extreme levels of
inequality are <a href="http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/about-inequality/effects">bad for everybody</a>.<br />
Those who would seek to maintain the status quo will offer a risible
rise in wages and will continue to provide state-sponsored subsistence
to bribe the voters. They will provide schemes to maintain the majority
in machine-like jobs and will present mortgage debt as an aspiration for
all. They will not attempt to increase opportunity and autonomy because
to do so would threaten the interests of those who wield political
influence. For them freedom means less regulation and redistribution. It
means the absence of state interference in the business of multiplying
wealth.<br />
These political schemes of varying complexity and success may lead to
some future prosperity and may guarantee future jobs, but the majority
of individuals will still have very little influence on their personal
future. People will still be bound to the will and caprice of employers.
The majority of people will still subsist on wages that represent a
small proportion of the value that their employment creates and the cost
of living will continue to rise as the banks and other vested interests
maintain the high cost of housing.<br />
To challenge the system of inequality it is necessary to implement
radical change to bring about greater personal and collective freedoms.
To settle for anything less is to accept the existing institutional
framework. The framework that offers varying combinations of state and
market designed to ensure that the inequalities generated by the market
are corrected by the redistributive and regulatory activity of the
state. The very fact that people in their droves are fleeing the country
and travelling to cities such as London in search of a job, any job, is
proof enough that people don’t just want more equality. People want
more consumption, more excitement, more of everything except equality.
Deep freedom, the capability to make more of their own life, must be the
objective of radical change.<br />
Perhaps I am reading too much in to what Milband is trying to do; but
it definitely seems to me that in his speeches on ‘predators’ and
‘pre-distribution’ he is pitching to represent the 99%. And that he is
willing to take on the ‘Power Elite’. Blair and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/26/peter-mandelson-knack-infuriating-enemies">Mandelson</a>
famously shied away from challenging the ‘shadow cast on society by big
business’, seeking merely to attenuate the effects. I hope that
Miliband is brave enough to try and that we give him the opportunity to
effect real and lasting <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJq8VImEBTc&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLNdEBvVYMvsC3-vpYQRy_myLYbTKKAmUQ">structural change</a>.<br />
In order to be successful Miliband must first raise awareness that he
alone represents the interests of the people. He must not just convince
traditional Labour supporters but all the electorate that a vote for
Labour is a vote in favour of the collective interests of the 99%. He
must convince the electorate that the status quo only serves the
interests of the elite and that Labour will enact meaningful change.<br />
Ed Miliband is certainly influenced by his father and by other
notable socialists Tariq Ali and C. Wright Mills. The papers have
recently been suggesting that he aims to be a 21<sup>st</sup> Century <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/president-theodore-roosevelt-provides-ed-miliband-with-an-unlikely-role-model-9070621.html">Teddy Roosevelt</a>. I suspect that he has also been reading <i>George <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/economics-and-morality-pa_b_1596181.html">Lakoff</a>:</i><br />
<blockquote>
“The liberal market economy maximizes overall freedom by
serving public needs: providing needed products at reasonable prices
for reasonable profits, paying workers fairly and treating them well,
and serving the communities to which they belong. In short, “the people
the economy is supposed to serve” are ordinary citizens.”</blockquote>
I think that all political parties have done the people a disservice
by pretending that ‘we are all middle-class now’. Yes disposable incomes
are higher; yes more people now work in offices rather than in manual
occupations. But the availability of credit and the cultural incitement
to home and car ownership means that just as many people are now
wage-slaves, dependant on employment to pay for their ‘standard of
living’, as they ever have been. As Ernest Bevin said “We must not
confuse democracy with the maintenance of a particular form of economic
or financial system…rather it is a condition which allows for change in
the system itself”’Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-64874860225136092982013-11-11T16:04:00.003+00:002013-11-11T16:04:54.720+00:00Bombers Moon - Mike Harding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NiiKfB1-DcU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
4 in Bomber County<BR><br />
young men waiting for the night, <BR><br />
In the hedgerows birds are singing, <BR><br />
Calling in the falling light. <BR><br />
<br />
And the captain says, <BR><br />
'Tonight there'll be a bomber's moon, <BR><br />
We'll be there and back underneath a bombers' moon. <BR><br />
A thousand bombers over the northern sea<BR><br />
Heading out, out for Germany.'<BR><br />
<br />
Chalkey White stands at the dartboard, <BR><br />
Curly Thompson writes to his wife, <BR><br />
Nobby Clarke and Jumbo Johnson<BR><br />
Are playing cards and smoking pipes; <BR><br />
<br />
And over the hangars rises a bombers' moon, <BR><br />
Full and clear rising, as the engines croon<BR><br />
And the planes they taxi out on to runway five<BR><br />
And sail off out into the silvery night. <BR><br />
<br />
Sandy Campbell checks his oil gauge, <BR><br />
The Belgian coast is coming soon; <BR><br />
Curly Thompson lifts his sextant, <BR><br />
Lines up on a bombers' moon<BR><br />
<br />
And waves are shining there below the bombers' moon. <BR><br />
The Lancasters flying high below the bombers' moon<BR><br />
Coming in along the Belgian coast<BR><br />
A thousand silver-shrouded ghosts. <BR><br />
<br />
Flak flies up around the city, <BR><br />
Jumbo Johnson banks his plane, <BR><br />
Goes in low and drops his payload, <BR><br />
Turns to join the pack again. <BR><br />
<br />
And people are dying there below the bomber's moon, <BR><br />
The city's a raging hell below the bomber's moon, <BR><br />
And the planes head out towards the northern sea: <BR><br />
Young men coming home from victory. <BR><br />
<br />
Over Belgium came the fighters, <BR><br />
Flying high against the night; <BR><br />
Curly Thompson saw them coming, <BR><br />
Closing in before he died. <BR><br />
<br />
And the young men shot them down below the bomber's moon, <BR><br />
Shot them down in flames below the bomber's moon; <BR><br />
Young men sending young men to their graves<BR><br />
Saw them down into the North Sea waves. <BR><br />
<BR><br />
'83 in Bomber County<BR><br />
Mrs White dusts the picture and she cries: <BR><br />
Chalkey White in uniform<BR><br />
Looking as he did the day he died. <BR><br />
<br />
And for God's sake no more bombers' moons, <BR><br />
No more young men going out to die too soon, <BR><br />
Old men sending young men out to die, <BR><br />
Young men dying for a politician's lies. <BR><br />
<br />
For God's sake no more bombers' moons, <BR><br />
No more young men going out to die too soon, <BR><br />
Old men sending young men out to kill. <BR><br />
If we don't stop them then they never will. <BR><br />
<BR><br />
No more no more bombers' moons. <BR><br />
<BR><br />
No more no more bombers' moons. <BR><br />
<BR><br />
No more no more bombers' moons. <BR><br />
<BR><br />
No more no more bombers' moons. <BR><br />
<BR> Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-464442332065687082013-11-11T16:03:00.001+00:002013-11-11T16:03:17.024+00:00If I can Dream - Elvis Presley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xUXsWeVYtD0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<b>White Poppies are for Peace</b> "The idea of decoupling Armistice Day, the red poppy and later Remembrance Day from their military culture dates back to 1926, just a few years after the British Legion was persuaded to try using the red poppy as a fundraising tool in Britain. A member of the No More War Movement suggested that the British Legion should be asked to imprint 'No More War' in the centre of the red poppies instead of ‘Haig Fund’ and failing this pacifists should make their own flowers. The details of any discussion with the British Legion are unknown but as the centre of the red poppy displayed the ‘Haig Fund’ imprint until 1994 it was clearly not successful. A few years later the idea was again discussed by the Co-operative Women's Guild. In 1933 the first white poppies appeared on Armistice Day (called Remembrance Day after World War Two). The white poppy was not intended as an insult to those who died in the First World War - a war in which many of the white poppy supporters lost husbands, brothers, sons and lovers - but a challenge to the continuing drive to war. The following year the newly founded Peace Pledge Union began widespread distribution of the poppies and their annual promotion." Taken from http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/index.html Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-7092585459284535482013-09-30T21:14:00.000+01:002013-09-30T21:14:19.557+01:00G. G. Osborne speech CPC2013; CCR - Fortunate Son<br />
I've been a little busy with my everyday life to blog recently but George Osborne got under my skin today - and not in a good way.<br />
<br />
I didn't hear all of his speech, as I was travelling for work, but what I heard seemed to be full of contradictions and made-up stuff.
Apparently in a country such as Britain, where we dug deep for coal and explored the North sea for oil and gas, we shouldn't be afraid of extracting shale gas and shale oil. But also we should admire Thatcher for recognising the need to modernise (or whatever he said); is that the same Thatcher that closed the mines and destroyed Britains industrial heartlands?<br />
<br />
Osborne said that Labour should have run a surplus during the good times; would that be the same good times during Osborne pledged to match Labour spending?
Osborne plans to make individuals have been long-term unemployed undertake work-placements in exchange for their JSA payments. So there is work that these people can do; they just can't actually get paid a fair wage to do it?<br />
<br />
Osborne decried Miliband's plan to reform the energy market by stating that if the price freeze were to be a realistic possibility then energy providers would jack up the price before and after the freeze to recoup there profits; seemingly failing to recognise that this sort of behaviour is why the market needs reforming and that if it is possible to hike prices before a price freeze then it only shows how ineffectual the regulation of the energy market is.<br />
<br />
During his speech he also stated that his parents took a risk and started their own business and that he grew up with his father running the business. He may be trying to present himself as a pro-business guy who recognises that people take risks but he can't seriously expect us to believe that his parents were actually staking their livelihood on a decorating business? Risk is where something bad might actually happen, not playing at setting up a shop with inherited capital. If the business failed they would not have been destitue, possibly poorer, but not homeless, hungry and without hope.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ec0XKhAHR5I?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> <br />
<br />
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
Songwriters: JOHN C. FOGERTY<br />
Some folks are born to wave the flag,<br />
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.<br />
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",<br />
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,<br />
<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me,<br />
I ain't no senator's son, son.<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me;<br />
I ain't no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!<br />
<br />
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,<br />
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.<br />
But when the taxman comes to the door,<br />
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,<br />
<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me,<br />
I ain't no millionaire's son, no.<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me;<br />
I ain't no fortunate one, no.<br />
<br />
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,<br />
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,<br />
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"<br />
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,<br />
<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one.<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,<br />
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-48133265695890883642013-09-09T16:54:00.001+01:002013-09-09T16:54:49.427+01:00SOLIDARITY FOREVER - Utah Phillips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OsPOgCPEeKs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
TUC this week - a special union song; Solidarity Forever.
The Union makes us strong.
I especially like the slide in this video that says;
"When someone tells you they got rich through hard work, ask them Whose?"
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-3296687392780359572013-09-09T16:49:00.000+01:002013-09-09T16:49:22.864+01:00The Universal Soldier - The song Universal Soldier was written in the 1960s by Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie and is therefore bound up with the Vietnam War protest movement. The song was written as a general protest against war and therefore has wider connotations. The pretext, as Sainte-Marie explains in this video is that each individual must bear responsibility for individual actions. If enough people come together and say we will not fight, then war will end.
In an enlightened society, where people have the ability and the freedom to come to their own conclusions then war will end. In a closed society, where people have neither the freedom or the information from which to make up their own mind then people will continue to fight their fellow people.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VGWsGyNsw00?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
He's 5 foot 2 and he's 6 feet 4
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17.
He's been a soldier for a thousand years
He's a catholic, a Hindu, an atheist,
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill
And he knows he always will kill
You'll for me my friend and me for you
And He's fighting for Canada.
He's fighting for France.
He's fighting for the USA.
And he's fighting for the Russians.
And he's fighting for Japan
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.
And He's fighting for democracy,
He's fighting for the reds
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one, who must decide, who's to live and who's to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him, how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can't go on
He's the universal soldier
And he really is the blame
His orders comes from far away no more.
They come from him. And you and me.
And brothers can't you see.
This is not the way we put an end to war Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-18317911688636765532013-08-19T13:34:00.001+01:002013-08-19T13:34:22.055+01:00No fracking way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/AflRT0gBgL0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
There was a knock one morning, a man was standing at my door He said, hello, I'm from Halliburton, have you heard of us before? We'd like to lease your backyard to drill for natural gas It's called hydraulic fracturing and it is the very pass For a clean energy future above the Marcellus stone Plus we'll give you lots of money and a new mobile phone I said you are a corporate crook, I don't believe the things you tell And you can drive right of my property and then go straight to hell No fracking way! (2x) I don't trust corporate salesmen, whatever they may say No fracking way! (3x) My neighbor was out of work and things were looking grim So when the fracking guy came knocking he had better luck with him The company said don't worry, everything will be just fine So just sign your name right here, sir, on this dotted line Pretty soon the water was tasting pretty dire One day I lit a match and the water caught on fire I thought about a lawsuit, then stumbled upon the fact That fracking is exempted from the Clean Water Act ...Is that how democracy works here in the USA As if the situation weren't sufficiently unattractive We tested the water and found it was radioactive Now my property is worthless and there's a tumor in my brain Half of my neighbors are sick, the rest are just in pain Maybe I should take the money, move off to live somewhere But all the places I look at, they're fracking there Our choices now are simple, lose that which we hold dear Or communicate the message in a way that's unstoppably clear ...Tell these frackers to frack off, both tomorrow and todayRobin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-35342142355277048292013-08-15T18:16:00.001+01:002013-08-15T20:44:05.925+01:00Why we still need the Man in Black (Man In Black - Johnny Cash)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/y0VvmiU9xZM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The incident yesterday with Ed Miliband, some eggs and a disgruntled voter has sparked a flurry of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/10242691/Ed-Miliband-rejects-Burnham-warning-Labour-must-shout-louder.html">articles</a> <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/a-new-media-egging-ed-miliband-scrambled-by-public-egging-at-east-street-market-8762065.html">about</a> how Labour has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/15/ed-miliband-labour-egged-austerity">failed</a> to represent the interests of the regular man and woman in the street. It does concern me that the down-trodden, the poor and the needy don’t always see the Labour and Co-operative movement as being representative of their needs. It saddens me that a truck driver sees the Conservative Party as being the facilitator of his personal wealth (a vaguely remembered interview on Radio5Live where he said that he voted Tory because he hoped one day to be wealthy). Unfortunately the Labour Party appears unable to shake off the stereotype that it is a Party of high taxation.<br />
<br />
Labour is seen by some as being the party of state interference and totalitarianism. Such hyperbole is seen everyday on the comment sections of numerous websites. On these forums vitriol pours back and forth from both sides of the political divide, most of which is based much more on prejudice than evidence. (A lot of comments also state the view that ‘the Left’ are an arrogant, pompous bunch, who fail to comprehend why they are misunderstood.) Where evidence is presented, by either side, it can be contradicted by other evidence to support whichever viewpoint you choose to inhabit. Political persuasion therefore often boils down to instinct; and generally to your view on big or small government. The irony of this is that the small government mantra of the conservatives is contradicted by the intensive centralization of public sector management starting in the 1980s with the appropriation of municipal powers by Whitehall and continued in the present decade by the acceleration of the academy programme in schools. The view of people that favour small government often seems to be based on the premise that excessive interference by government is preventing them maximizing their personal wealth creation. This is characteristically twinned with the view that taxation is equivalent to “the state” stealing their money. This view ignores the positive impact that the state has on enabling this person to earn a living.<br />
<br />
I have borrowed the following statement from a comment forum on the following very interesting article; <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/04/how-america-spends-money-100-years-in-the-life-of-the-family-budget/255475/">how-america-spends-money-100-years-in-the-life-of-the-family-budget</a>. I think it sums up the situation very neatly.<br />
“There are things that we've agreed (collectively) are important. Roads, schools, military, police, etc. There is no market incentive to provide these services. Thus if we want them (and we do), there needs to be a non-profit motivated entity to provide them...aka the government. How would this entity be funded? It certainly can't be voluntary, since we can all come up with a reason why we (personally) are more important than us (collectively). As an individual, you might disagree with certain things...for example I think we spend too much money on military adventurism, and you clearly think we spend too much money on everything (though I'll bet there are some things you're pretty happy the government provides). But as a group, we've set some priorities. There is a process to realign those priorities called elections. Some things don't make sense out of context. Environmental regulations for example. Its more profitable to dump your waste on the group than treating it right? But we've (collectively) decided that having clean drinking water is valuable, so we set (very weak) rules on how much waste and where it can be dumped to avoid pollution of water. Unless you are personally profiting from this waste dumping, you should be in favor of this..because the alternative is that you pay for the cleanup/disposal (maybe with cash, maybe with poor health outcomes, maybe with more expensive drinking water). Without the context of the cost (that is the polluted water or whatnot), its hard to see why the regulation makes sense. There is also a ton of money spend on "helping" you think that this sort of regulation hurts businesses. In a sense it does, they lose some profits due to responsible habits. But their loss is your gain. The biggest problem with our system is that we've allowed to relatively similar groups (the Ds and Rs are much closer in thinking than all the partisan rhetoric would imply) to have total control for an extended period. That means that the small group of corruptible political elites have set up rules that benefit themselves and their supporters." <br />
<br />
There is some historical truth in the notion that Labour is a party of large state; not least the nationalization of industry in the mid-twentieth century. But Labour was also the party that led Welsh and Scottish devolution, devolution to London assembly and Mayor of London and attempted to introduce regional assemblies in parts of England. I get the impression that many in the Labour and Co-operative movement now strongly believe that the future of a more equitable society is predicated on stronger local governance and local accountability. For this reason the Localism Act and the city deals that the coalition government has introduced should be, tentatively, welcomed. However without increased funding, increased power means very little. Local authorities now, rightly, have responsibility for coordinating public health provision in their region. But they have to take on this extra responsibility with no additional funding.<br />
<br />
But lets face it these macro-political schemes actually have very little impact on the day-to-day life of many ordinary people. These schemes of varying complexity and success may lead to some future prosperity and may guarantee future jobs, but the majority of individuals will still have very little influence on their future. People will still be bound to the will and caprice of employers, who are increasingly corporate and therefore removed from personal interaction. The majority of people will still subsist on wages that represent a small proportion of the value that their employment creates and the cost of living will continue to rise as the banks and other vested interests maintain the high cost of housing. I think that all political parties have done the people a disservice by pretending that ‘we are all middle-class now’. Yes disposable incomes are higher; yes more people now work in offices rather than in manual occupations; yet the availability of credit and the cultural incitement to home and car ownership means that just as many people are now wage-slaves, dependant on employment to pay for their ‘standard of living’, as they ever have been.<br />
<br />
"Man In Black"<br />
<br />
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,<br />
Why you never see bright colors on my back,<br />
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.<br />
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.<br />
<br />
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,<br />
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,<br />
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,<br />
But is there because he's a victim of the times.<br />
<br />
I wear the black for those who never read,<br />
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,<br />
About the road to happiness through love and charity,<br />
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.<br />
<br />
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,<br />
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,<br />
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,<br />
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.<br />
<br />
I wear it for the sick and lonely old,<br />
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,<br />
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,<br />
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.<br />
<br />
And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,<br />
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,<br />
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,<br />
Believen' that we all were on their side.<br />
<br />
Well, there's things that never will be right I know,<br />
And things need changin' everywhere you go,<br />
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,<br />
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.<br />
<br />
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,<br />
And tell the world that everything's OK,<br />
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,<br />
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black. Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-39875519908206548342013-06-19T14:26:00.003+01:002013-06-19T14:26:37.996+01:00The International Labour Organisation offers Ed the policies for jobs and growth<h2>
<span><span style="font-size: small;">“Women and men without jobs or livelihoods really don’t care if their economies grow at 3, 5 or 10 per cent a year, if such growth leaves them behind and without protection. They do care whether their leaders and their societies promote policies to provide jobs and justice, bread and dignity, and freedom to voice their needs, their hopes and their dreams” -Juan Somavia</span></span></h2>
<div class="entry">
<strong></strong><br />
<span>Juan Somavia was the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) until 2012. The ILO was founded in 1919, in the wake of a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946.</span><br />
<span>From the 5</span><sup>th</sup><span> to the 20</span><sup>th</sup><span> of June 2013 the ILO are holding the 102nd International Labour Conference in Geneva. On the agenda are several themes that have been prevalent in the UK media recently and have relevance to the lives of the UK population. These are;</span><br />
<ol>
<li>Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs</li>
<li>Employment and social protection in the new demographic context</li>
<li>Social Dialogue</li>
</ol>
<span>OK so they don’t sound relevant in the bureaucratese in which they are written, however these issues could all have a profound impact on our quality of life. I shall attempt to decipher them for you.</span><br />
<span>The first of these deals with the two most significant challenges facing humanity in the 21</span><sup>st</sup><span> Century; achieving environmental sustainability and ensuring decent work for all. The ILO </span><a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_207370.pdf">report</a><span> on this topic states that “The shift to a sustainable, greener economy offers major opportunities for social development: (1) the creation of more jobs; (2) improvement in the quality of large numbers of jobs; and (3) social inclusion on a massive scale.”</span><br />
<span>The report goes onto to say that “an assessment of a broad range of green jobs in the United States, for example, concluded that they compare favourably with non-green jobs in similar sectors in terms of skill levels and wages. Research in China, Germany and Spain has also found the quality of new renewable energy jobs to be good.”</span><br />
<span>Major investment both in terms of policy and money will therefore only reap rewards; if we are to gain the most from this opportunity then we can’t simply play at building wind-farms.</span><br />
<span>Long-term policy commitments must be made to ensure that private investment is forthcoming, something not helped by last week’s UK parliamentary </span><a href="http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/06/vote-against-clean-power-target-for-2030-is-major-setback-for-uk-economy/">vote against</a><span> a clean power target, which will also affect the </span><a href="http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/06/the-energy-bill-will-hurt-uk-car-makers/">motor manufacturing industry</a><span>.</span><br />
<span id="more-16680"></span>The demographic context to which the second item refers is the “inevitable and irreversible trend of ‘population ageing’”.<br />
<span>By 2050 there will be an extra 2 billion people globally, but as the birth-rate stabilises and people live longer the number of people over 60 will triple. This change in the ratio of working-age and retired people could result in shortages in labour supply and skills as people retire.</span><br />
<span>This could result in loss of productivity and innovation and will certainly affect how national governments make provision for social security services.</span><br />
<span>A report on this by ILO emphasises the importance of having active labour market policies and recognise that “social security systems work best when they are well integrated and co-ordinated with wider social, economic and employment policies”.</span><br />
<span>A key element of this is getting the young into employment. This is important because not only will the young have to pay tax in the future to support the increasingly aged population but also to ensure intergenerational social cohesion.</span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Social dialogue</span><em style="font-weight: normal;"> </em><span style="font-weight: normal;">is defined in the </span></span><a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_205955.pdf" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">ILO report</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> as “the term that describes the involvement of workers, employers and governments in decision-making on employment and workplace issues. It includes all types of negotiation, consultation and exchange of information among representatives of these groups on common interests in economic, labour and social policy.”</span></span></h2>
<span>This is important both in giving people a voice and role to play in shaping their workplaces and by extension wider society but also as a means of achieving social and economic progress. Social dialogue has taken an important role in shaping the workplaces of the UK over the last few decades but the new century has brought new challenges.</span><br />
<span>Collective bargaining power is now weaker as a result of increased competition from new global markets, increased unemployment and a decline in the proportion of GDP arising from labour intensive industry.</span><br />
<span>This, combined with a decline in unionisation an increased income inequality, means that new methods of achieving social dialogue must be found. The fact that the unions remain strong in the public sector but are weak in SMEs where the majority of people work results in many people having a negative view of their potential to enable change in the workplace. More must be done to make social dialogue more inclusive.</span><br />
<span>In addition to these agenda items the ILO has produced several documents that explore how these topics are inter-related and propose policies that would both improve social justice and achieve financial equilibrium for nation-states.</span><br />
<span>In the </span><a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_214476.pdf">World of Work Report 2013</a><span> the ILO present the case for a more job-friendly approach to macroeconomic policy.</span><br />
<span>The report argues that “well-designed and coordinated macroeconomic, employment and social policies can have mutually reinforcing effects.” Both Argentina (in 2001-2002) and Sweden (in 1990s) successfully pursued policies that focused on job protection and creation rather than on fiscal consolidation.</span><br />
In Sweden in particular this was achieved by the development of a package of labour market policies designed with the specific intention of reducing the risk of long-term unemployment. The flagship policy of this package was a youth employment guarantee.<br />
<span>There are several policy proposals that the World of Work Report present and provides evidence for their beneficial impact on increasing employment and stabilizing the economy. These are;</span><br />
<ol>
<li>Public investment for innovation</li>
<li>Investment in and extension of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs):
<ol>
<li>supporting the creation and development of credit mediators to reassess SMEs’ credit requests that have been rejected by banks;</li>
<li>introducing credit guarantees for viable SMEs, in which a percentage of the loan is backed by government support; and</li>
<li>directly earmarking a portion of bank recapitalization funds for the provision of SME credit</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Avoiding wage stagnation or deflation traps: A significant proportion of GDP is in domestic consumption, particularly in larger or more developed economies. Therefore attention to employment, wages and other sources of household income is a critical part of a sound macroeconomic policy mix.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/---coop/documents/publication/wcms_207768.pdf">Resilience in a Downturn: The power of financial cooperatives</a><span> is a report that discusses the historical, statistical, conceptual, and policy aspects of financial cooperatives. With particular reference to how cooperatives fare in times of crisis.</span><br />
<span>The report shows that financial cooperatives have continued to provide banking services to people on low incomes, to stabilize the banking system, to regenerate local economies and, indirectly, to create employment.</span><br />
<span>The report explains that cooperatives are able to do this because of their unique combination of member ownership, control and benefit. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations for governments, development agencies and other policy-makers, for instance using cooperatives not as “conduits” but as partners in the wider aims of business development, insurance against episodic poverty and decent work.</span><br />
<span>Ed Miliband has recently given a speech outlining his direction for the Labour party over the next few years. In summary he said that “We all know Labour in 2015 will have less money to spend, because the Tories have failed on the economy. So we are going to take action on the big problems our country faces to control spending:</span><br />
<ul>
<li>Cut costs by helping the long-term unemployed back to work</li>
<li>Make sure jobs are well-paid to reward work, so the state does not face rising subsidies for low pay</li>
<li>Get the cost of renting down by ensuring more homes are built – thereby reducing the welfare bill</li>
<li>Cap social security spending by focusing on the deep-rooted reasons benefit spending goes up.”</li>
</ul>
<span>Conservative MPs have predictably derided this speech; however it is a welcome intervention from Ed Miliband and should be welcomed by all who would rather see a Labour led government.</span><br />
<span>The findings of these ILO reports all generally agree with the view of most Labour supporters and Tory critics that jobs must come before growth and not the other way around. Conservative opinion seems generally to be that only by reducing national expenditure can we afford to invest in education and provide social security. As numerous economic experts have commented however, fiscal consolidation reduces domestic consumption, which reduces GDP.</span><br />
<span>The major role that governments can take in this approach is in forming policy that encourages private investment. For example long-term clean energy policy that drives investment in manufacturing and development; macroeconomic policy that facilitates lending to SMEs and incentives for youth employment and a housing policy based on using financial co-operatives to invest pension funds in the development of new residential and commercial units for long-term tenancies.</span><br />
<br />
<span>This article first appeared on <a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/06/13/the-international-labour-organisation-offers-ed-the-policies-for-jobs-and-growth/#comments">Labour uncut.</a></span></div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-80846928891493262462013-06-19T14:24:00.001+01:002013-06-19T14:24:14.326+01:00Working Mans Blues - Bob Dylan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VHd0cz5110M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
This week I had another article up on <a href="http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/06/13/the-international-labour-organisation-offers-ed-the-policies-for-jobs-and-growth/#comments">Labour-Uncut</a>; the theme of this is creating new jobs and ensuring that people are fairly paid for the work that they do. Sustainability is at the core of this; and by this I don't just mean environmentally friendly, although that is part of it, but ensuring that the younger generation have gainful employment so that they can provide for themselves and the ageing population. <br />
<br />
The article is predicated on the International Labour Organisation's conference, which ends tomorrow (20th June) in Geneva. Three of the discussion topics at the conference are<br />
<ol>
<li>Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs</li>
<li>Employment and social protection in the new demographic context</li>
<li>Social Dialogue</li>
</ol>
The fundamental premise of all three is that by global co-operation we can help each other to face the challenges of the coming century. Workers representation and communication between governments, employers and employees is the glue that should enable sustainable development to provide a future for all. <br />
<br />
Bob Dylan's great modern anthem - Working Mans Blues - is a song full of emotion that holds a mirror up to contemporary America and challenges governments and voters to confront the socio-economic problems that cause misery and despair for millions. <br />
<br />
<div class="field-field-lyrics">
<div class="field-items">
<h1 class="node-title">
Workingman's Blues #2<span class="song-writer"> by Bob Dylan</span></h1>
There's an evenin' haze settlin' over the town<br />Starlight by the edge of the creek<br />The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down<br />Money's gettin' shallow and weak<br />The place I love best is a sweet memory<br />It's a new path that we trod<br />They say low wages are a reality<br />If we want to compete abroad <br />
<br />
My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf<br />Come sit down on my knee<br />You are dearer to me than myself<br />As you yourself can see<br />I'm listenin' to the steel rails hum<br />Got both eyes tight shut<br />Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from<br />Creeping it's way into my gut <br />
<br />
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind<br />Bring me my boots and shoes<br />You can hang back or fight your best on the front line<br />Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues <br />
<br />
Now, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul<br />Tossed by the winds and the seas<br />I'll drag ‘em all down to hell and I'll stand ‘em at the wall<br />I'll sell ‘em to their enemies<br />I'm tryin' to feed my soul with thought<br />Gonna sleep off the rest of the day<br />Sometimes no one wants what we got<br />Sometimes you can't give it away <br />
<br />
Now the place is ringed with countless foes<br />Some of them may be deaf and dumb<br />No man, no woman knows<br />The hour that sorrow will come<br />In the dark I hear the night birds call<br />I can hear a lover's breath<br />I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall<br />Sleep is like a temporary death<br />
<br />
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind<br />Bring me my boots and shoes<br />You can hang back or fight your best on the front line<br />Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues <br />
<br />
Well, they burned my barn, they stole my horse<br />I can't save a dime<br />I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced<br />Into a life of continual crime<br />I can see for myself that the sun is sinking<br />How I wish you were here to see<br />Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking<br />That you have forgotten me? <br />
Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret<br />
<br />They waste your nights and days<br />Them I will forget<br />But you I'll remember always<br />Old memories of you to me have clung<br />You've wounded me with words<br />Gonna have to straighten out your tongue<br />It's all true, everything you have heard <br />
<br />
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind<br />Bring me my boots and shoes<br />You can hang back or fight your best on the front line<br />Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues <br />
<br />
In you, my friend, I find no blame<br />Wanna look in my eyes, please do<br />No one can ever claim<br />That I took up arms against you<br />All across the peaceful sacred fields<br />They will lay you low<br />They'll break your horns and slash you with steel<br />I say it so it must be so <br />
<br />
Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue<br />Gonna give you another chance<br />I'm all alone and I'm expecting you<br />To lead me off in a cheerful dance<br />Got a brand new suit and a brand new wife<br />I can live on rice and beans<br />Some people never worked a day in their life<br />Don't know what work even means <br />
<br />
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind<br />Bring me my boots and shoes<br />You can hang back or fight your best on the front line<br />Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues<br />
<div class="copyright">
Copyright © 2006 Special Rider Music </div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<br />Read more: <a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/workingmans-blues-2#ixzz2WfPOwfFF" style="color: #003399;">http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/workingmans-blues-2#ixzz2WfPOwfFF</a></div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-57040963604490519502013-06-18T13:12:00.001+01:002013-06-18T13:22:29.999+01:00"Stand up take to the streets, they can't ignore us if we all choose to speak"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Neil Lawson had an article up on the Guardian and <a href="http://www.compassonline.org.uk/the-failure-of-politics-wont-be-solved-by-single-issue-campaigners/">Compass Online</a> yesterday talking about single issue campaign organisations and their effect on mainstream politics. The gist of the article is that campaigners such as the Occupy Movement and UK Uncut have been effective at drawing media attention to issues such as corporate tax avoidance and political action has followed as a result </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But these are mostly single issues, and the multiple crises we face demand joined-up answers. The political parties we can't live with, we also can't live without. The urgent task at hand is to construct a politics that not only joins the concerns of all of us who seek a much more equal, sustainable and democratic world – a good society – but which finds a way of linking formal and informal politics…So the challenge to the parties is to democratise internally and practise pluralism externally. The challenge to the movements is to shift beyond single issues and join forces to tackle the root causes of markets that are too free or too powerful, and states that are too remote or too intrusive.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Neil Lawson is the Director of pressure group Compass and as such has a strong affiliation with Labour and the Co-operative Movement. I happen to agree with him that the Labour Party must be in the vanguard of a new movement for democratic change; for it is only through the democratic system that we can achieve meaningful and permanent change. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Ernest Bevin said that ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We must not confuse democracy with the maintenance of a particular form of economic or financial system…rather it is a condition which allows for change in the system itself.</i>’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Change in the system itself is what we need. Lucy Ward’s recent single “For the Dead Man” serves as a poignant reminder of what is going wrong and what we can do to change it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Those who run our countries they will never see <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cause they’ve never had to make the choice to bite the hand that feeds<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There are thousand of people who were left to fall between <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The cracks in our culture that were torn apart by greed</i>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Lucy calls on the people to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stand up and take to the streets, they can’t ignore us if we all choose to speak</i>”. The phrasing of this is spot on; if we <u>choose</u> to speak then other voters and politicians will listen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Apathy is the enemy of change. If we want a better life for ourselves and our children then we must stand up and be counted. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0FbmiWS4fgo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
Lucy Ward sings "For the Dead Men" <a href="http://www.lucywardsings.com/">http://www.lucywardsings.com/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://lucywardsings.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/billy-bragg-for-the-dead-men-and-fishermen/">http://lucywardsings.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/billy-bragg-for-the-dead-men-and-fishermen/</a><br />
<br />
"someone asked me at my gig on monday why I wrote this song and why ‘dead men’; it was quite a big question and I think I could of rambled on about it for yonks (you know how I like to talk :p ). Well I have been thinking about it more since that question and thought that for this weeks post I would have a little muse about what inspired it, how I wrote it and how I feel about it now.<br />
<strong>Why did I write it?</strong><br />
I wrote it out of desperation! I guess it was a reaction to what is going on in the world, catalysed by watching the marches, riots and revolutions unfold on my tv screen. I am a total pacifist, and a veggie one at that so please know that I would never condone any violence, but there was something about watching those who were making their voices heard (in a peaceful way) that just…i dunno…spoke to me.<br />
<br />
<div>
<strong>Why dead men?</strong></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It started out as a reference to those who have marched before us, but as the song has developed I feel it has become more than that. I really think it refers to us all, ‘the dead men’ are those of us sticking our heads in the sand, ignorant to what is happening and our power to affect it. It’s apathy. It is also all those on the thin edge of the wedge who have been left deal with the true fall out of the cuts and reforms… while the rest of us (including myself) sit in our warm, paid up homes thinking about cutting down our broadband package.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<strong></strong>The response that this song has had so far has been quite overwhelming with lots of you guys sharing it online, it has been knocked around ‘occupies’ all over the world since I recorded it, Mike Harding has shared it, it’s beginning to get airplay and today with Billy Bragg sharing it with his 90,000 + fans on facebook it really feels like something important is happening. It’s just great to know that there are people out there who feel the same.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
please continue to share this should you feel so inclined.</div>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></span><br />
<div>
Just for your info, this single is my first new release since my album last year. It is available on itunes and amazon as a download and if you would like a physical copy then they are only available from me, (just £3 + £1 for postage and packaging)…just drop me an email on <a href="mailto:info@lucywardsings.com">info@lucywardsings.com</a> and I’ll get back to you asap <img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" scale="0" src="http://s0.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif?m=1129645325g" /> " </div>
</div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-57905149667614749042013-06-17T20:34:00.001+01:002013-06-17T20:34:40.434+01:00Chris Wood - None the Wiser<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-xSymc8KdU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Chris Wood's song None the Wiser is an extremely thoughful and thought provoking song and is part of a tremendous album of the same name. </div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
"The argos catalogue is our tormentor" ...</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
"I just had my montly meet with the job club supervisor, I was none the wiser"...</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
"while in the five star saunas of the hotel trip advisor, its just business, business, business, its always none the wiser"</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
and my favourite</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
"in the bowels of the Bank of England they are sacrificing chickens to a god they call 'quantitative easing' "</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
In March 2013 Chris Wood said this about the making of his latest album "While this musical journey was going on, Britain was sinking deeper into recession. From radio and television studios our political and fiscal masters were insisting we should continue to listen to them, to take seriously their initiatives and their projections while out in the streets our personal experience was, and remains, in gritty contradiction to their rhetoric.<br /><br />I believe we are on our own. I believe all we really have is ourselves and what we make, and, the most precious of what we make lies in our connection to each other. They have not found a way of taxing what flows between us and our loved ones." - </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gritty, acerbic and at times grumpy the whole album is a triumph. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I bought my copy from Bandcamp where you can directly support your favourite the songwriters making new music. <a href="http://chriswoodfolkmusician.bandcamp.com/album/none-the-wiser">http://chriswoodfolkmusician.bandcamp.com/album/none-the-wiser</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6zZHnGoZJn0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-6279677007213224402013-06-06T22:13:00.001+01:002013-06-06T22:13:27.761+01:00Springhill Mine Disaster - Peggy Seeger - performed by Martin Carthy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zooE2Dd5-ls?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I couldn't mention mining without this tremendous song by Peggy Seeger. This version is by Martin Carthy and the video contains pictures from Springhill. The mood and lyrics of the song capture perfectly the horror and sacrifice that miners face to bring home a wage to support their family.Blood and bone truly is the price of coal. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER<br /><br />In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia<br />Down in the dark of the Cumberland Mine<br />there's blood on the coal and the miners lie<br />In the roads that never saw sun nor sky (2x)<br /><br />In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy<br />Often the earth will tremble and roll<br />When the earth is restless, miners die<br />Bone and blood is the price of coal<br /><br />In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia<br />Late in the year of fifty-eight<br />Day still comes and the sun still shines<br />But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland mine<br /><br />Down at the coal face, miners working<br />Rattle of the belt and the cutter's blade<br />Rumble of the rock and the walls closed round<br />The living and the dead men two miles down<br /><br />Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft<br />Twelve men lay in the dark and sang<br />Long hot days in the miners tomb<br />It was three feet high and a hundred long<br /><br />Three days past and the lamps gave out<br />Our foreman rose on his elbow and said<br />We're out of light and water and bread<br />So we'll live on song and hope instead<br /><br />Listen for the shouts of the barefaced miners<br />Listen thru the rubble for a rescue team<br />Six hundred feet of coal and slag<br />Hope imprisoned in a three foot seam<br /><br />Eight days passes and some were rescued<br />Leaving the dead to lie alone<br />Thru all their lives they dug their grave<br />Two miles of earth for a marking stone<br /><br />In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy<br />Often the earth will tremble and roll<br />When the earth is restless, miners die<br />Bone and blood is the price of coal<br /><br />Copyright Sing Out<br />by Peggy Seeger,</div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-37700956353635582212013-06-06T22:05:00.000+01:002013-06-06T22:05:32.481+01:00Coalminers - Uncle TupeloCoalminers, by Uncle Tupelo, is just a great earthy song written about the plight of coalminers in the last century. Conditions have generally improved but it still acounts <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11533349">for 8% of industrial fatalities</a> across the world; which is a huge figure when you consider that only 1% of the global workforce are employed in mines. Many of the deaths occur in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22491073">China </a>and Russia and although nominally blamed on a failure to follow safety procedures could be a result of economic pressure to produce more for less. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hfNB-SzoCO8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<strong>Coalminers</strong> by Uncle Tupelo<br />
<br />
come, all you coalminers<br />
wherever you may be<br />
and listen to the story<br />
that I relate to thee<br />
my name is nothing extra<br />
but the truth to you I tell<br />
I am a coalminer<br />
and I'm sure I wish you well<br />
<br />
I was born in old Kentucky<br />
in a coal camp, born and bred<br />
I know about old beans<br />
bulldog gravy and cornbread<br />
I know how the miners work and slave<br />
in the coalmines every day<br />
for a dollar in the company store<br />
for that is all they pay<br />
<br />
mining is the most dangerous work<br />
in our land today<br />
plenty of dirty, slaving work<br />
for very little pay<br />
coalminers, won't you wake up<br />
and open your eyes and see<br />
what this dirty capitalist system<br />
has done to you and me<br />
<br />
dear miners, they will slave you<br />
until you can't work no more<br />
and what will you get for your laborbut a dollar in the company store<br />
a tumbledown shack to live in<br />
snow and rain pouring through the topand you have to pay the company rentand your payments will never stop<br />
<br />
they take our very lifeblood<br />
they take our children's lives<br />
take fathers away from children<br />
take husbands away from wivescoalminers, won't you organize<br />
wherever you may be<br />
and make this a land of freedom<br />
for workers, like you and me<br />
<br />
I am a coalminer<br />
and I'm sure I wish you well<br />
let's sink this capitalist system<br />
to the darkest pits of hell Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140592619529584034.post-14780397154815853812013-06-05T11:49:00.003+01:002013-06-05T12:43:06.797+01:00The International Labour Organisation (inc. The Workers Song - Ed Pickford)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'Women and men without jobs or livelihoods really don’t care if their economies grow at 3, 5 or 10 per cent a year, if such growth leaves them behind and without protection. They do care whether their leaders and their societies promote policies to provide jobs and justice, bread and dignity, and freedom to voice their needs, their hopes and their dreams...'</i> -<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Juan Somavia<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nrdl4ijru8o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Juan Somavia is the former Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO was founded in 1919, in the wake of a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946.</div>
<br />
Today is the first day of the 102nd International Labour Conference. The theme of the conference is on securing a stable and sustainable future for working peoples throughout the world. Agenda items for discussion are; <br />
<ol style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_207370.pdf">Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs</a> </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Empl<a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_209717.pdf">oyment and social protection in the new demographic context </a></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">
These are important topics and important both in our own lives and in the working lives of our children and grandchildren. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
In April of this year the ILO published a new report entitled <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/---coop/documents/publication/wcms_207768.pdf">"Resilience in a Downturn: The power of financial cooperatives"</a>. This document addresses the historical, statistical, conceptual, and policy aspects of financial cooperatives, focusing in particular on how cooperatives fare in times of crisis. Importantly, it underscores that cooperatives’ success during the global financial crisis can provide a credible alternative to the investment-owned banking system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
In analysing their performance in the crisis, the report shows that financial cooperatives have continued to provide banking services to people on low incomes, to stabilize the banking system, to regenerate local economies and, indirectly, to create employment. The report explains that cooperatives are able to do this because of their unique combination of member ownership, control and benefit. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations for governments, development agencies and other policy-makers, for instance using cooperatives not as “conduits” but as partners in the wider aims of business development, insurance against episodic poverty and decent work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Evidence, if it were needed, that we achieve more when we work together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<h2 id="songheader-bar">
The Workers' Song</h2>
<div class="credits">
<strong>Words & Music : Ed Pickford</strong><br />
Lyric as sung by Dick Gaughan</div>
<div class="credits">
<br /></div>
<div class="column-text">
<div class="verse">
Come all of you workers who toil night and day<br />
By hand and by brain to earn your pay<br />
Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread<br />
Have bled for your countries and counted your dead</div>
<div class="verse">
<br /></div>
<div class="verse">
In the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines<br />
We've often been told to keep up with the times<br />
For our skills are not needed, they've streamlined the job<br />
And with sliderule and stopwatch our pride they have robbed</div>
<div class="verse">
<br /></div>
<div class="verse">
But when the sky darkens and the prospect is war<br />
Who's given a gun and then pushed to the fore<br />
And expected to die for the land of our birth<br />
When we've never owned one handful of earth?</div>
<div class="verse">
<br /></div>
<div class="verse">
We're the first ones to starve the first ones to die<br />
The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky<br />
And always the last when the cream is shared out<br />
For the worker is working when the fat cat's about</div>
<div class="verse">
<br /></div>
<div class="verse">
All of these things the worker has done<br />
From tilling the fields to carrying the gun<br />
We've been yoked to the plough since time first began<br />
And always expected to carry the can</div>
</div>
Robin Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317257362349335780noreply@blogger.com0