happy may day, fellow workers !!

[borders]

a day late i know !!!! interesting article regarding the origins of may day--- May Day: Workers on the march
By Mick Brooks in Britain
Friday, 01 May 2009

The celebration of May Day as a working class demonstration evolved from the struggle for the eight-hour day in the 1880s in the USA. The heart of the movement was in Chicago. Workers there had been agitating for an 8-hour day for months and, on the eve of May 1st, 50,000 were already on strike. 30,000 more swelled their ranks the next day, bringing most of Chicago manufacturing to a standstill.

The celebration of May Day as a working class demonstration evolved from the struggle for the eight-hour day in the 1880s in the USA. The heart of the movement was in Chicago. Workers there had been agitating for an 8-hour day for months and, on the eve of May 1st, 50,000 were already on strike. 30,000 more swelled their ranks the next day, bringing most of Chicago manufacturing to a standstill.

On May 3rd police fired into a crowd of strikers at a factory in Haymarket, killing four and wounding many. A bomb was thrown at the police in retaliation, killing one officer. Workers were arrested, and four anarchists were hanged. There was little or no evidence of these men's involvement with the bomb, and the rulings of the court became known as a gross miscarriage of justice.
In Paris in 1889 the founding congress of the Second International declared May 1st an international working class holiday in commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs and the red flag became the symbol of the blood of working class martyrs in their battle for workers' rights.

Now once again the crisis of capitalism is forcing workers on the world to move against their oppressors. Once more the tradition of May Day, of international solidarity, is to the fore.

Last year May Day was celebrated by workers from Finland to New Zealand, from Athens to Minneapolis. Both Israeli and Palestinian workers celebrate International Workers' Day. Where workers have not won the right to assemble and demonstrate and organise freely, then May Day is the focus for workers in their struggle for emancipation. In Iran, for instance, the government banned all independent May Day events across the country last year. They even prevented workers to hold a picnic in a park before May Day. For about 1,000 workers and their families, government sent over 1,000 security forces to shut down the park. This shows what the tradition of May Day means to workers, and why the bosses fear it. We have seen the first factory occupations in the UK for nearly thirty years as a wave of redundancies rocks the British working class.

Where did the idea come from? It is part of the shared experience of the world’s working class. Des Heemskerk, leader of the temporary occupation of the Visteon occupation in Basildon and a Socialist Appeal supporter, explains: "The whole question of the occupation was inspired by the occupation of Waterford Crystal in the South of Ireland. The idea of occupation spread to Belfast and from there to Enfield and to Basildon, where we have had a partial success."

The occupations have beenan inspiration to all workers. The whole idea of occupation came from tactics used by the labour movement in France and also in the USA. General Motors at Flint, Michigan was occupied in the 1930s. There were sit-down protests to establish trade unions at Flint. Workers draw inspiration from other movements. This could be repeated on a large scale. The lessons have been carried from Waterford to Belfast and then to Enfield and Basildon. The tradition of occupation has started in Britain and will be firmly established.

We learn from each others' experiences, in victories and defeats. Marxism is nothing but the memory of the working class. As the Communist manifesto points out, 'The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement'; It is only when Marxism has won control of the labour movement that the struggles of the working class all over the world will be crowned with the victory of world socialism.

Workers of the world, unite!

[Tman]

We learn from each others' experiences, in victories and defeats. Marxism is nothing but the memory of the working class. As the Communist manifesto points out, 'The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement'; It is only when Marxism has won control of the labour movement that the struggles of the working class all over the world will be crowned with the victory of world socialism.

C'mon Borders, you're just teasing me now......

[baldrick]

Belated May Day Greetings to you too borders!
It's a shame that May Day isn't celebrated as much in the UK as it is in
other parts of the World.

[Tman]

It's been long celebrated in the UK, right back to the ancient Celts etc; nothing to do with the out-pourings of Marx but a lot to do with the traditional start of summer.
More to do with Maypoles and Jack-in-the-green here, than standing grim-faced while endless missile launchers and tanks parade past allegedly proclaiming the victory of the working classes over the capitalist running dogs of the West.

Most saw through it as all a sham even back then..

[borders]

It's been long celebrated in the UK, right back to the ancient Celts etc; nothing to do with the out-pourings of Marx but a lot to do with the traditional start of summer.
More to do with Maypoles and Jack-in-the-green here, than standing grim-faced while endless missile launchers and tanks parade past allegedly proclaiming the victory of the working classes over the capitalist running dogs of the West.

Most saw through it as all a sham even back then..

try reading the first 5 paragraphs again.

[baldrick]

I think it was originally chosen as workers' day because it was the feast day of St Phillip,
patron saint of workers, and then changed to feast day of St Joseph, a carpenter/artisan
and also a Patron saint of workers (even engineers?).

[borders]

capitalism is the real sham, maybe you need reminding-----

[borders]

Martin Wolf in the Financial Times today: “…this would be a recipe… for xenophobia, nationalism and revolution… Everything must be done to prevent the inescapable recession from turning into something worse… Deflation is a real danger… At stake could be the legitimacy of the open market economy itself… the danger remains huge and time is short.”
We are facing the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Despite all the efforts to bail out the banking system, the economic crisis has only just started to bite. How deep or long the crisis will last is difficult to estimate, but given the financial house of cards built up in the last world boom, the capitalist system has entered unprecedented times, in which a depression cannot be ruled out.

Even the strategists of capital are terrified of this scenario, with all the mass unemployment and misery that goes with it.

“Many reach for parallels with the ‘gilded age’ of the 1920s, that gave rise to unprecedented Great Gatsby-style incomes at the top and was brought to a close by the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression”, comments the Financial Times (29/10/09). Interestingly enough, the distribution of US income today almost exactly matches that of 1928 on the eve of the Wall Street crash. In 1928, the top 1 per cent of Americans took in 24 per cent of national income, compared with 23 per cent today.

The artificial boom is giving way to a great downturn. The gloom surrounding the capitalist class is mirrored by their spokespeople. Martin Wolf, the key economic writer for the FT ably expresses the panic and dread of the capitalists. On 20 February, he wrote in his column: “America’s economy risks the mother of all meltdowns”.

In today’s FT, Martin Wolf points to the global outlook from JP Morgan Chase, which was forced to revise down its previous bullish predictions. In their assessment entitled “A bad week in hell”, the bank expects a shrinkage this quarter at an annualised rate of 4 per cent in the US, 3 per cent in the UK and 2 per cent in the euro-zone. However, Wolf qualifies this assessment:

“Given the near-disintegration of the western world’s banking system, the flight to safe assets, the tightening of credit to the real economy, collapsing equity prices, turmoil on currency markets, continued steep declines in house prices, rapid withdrawal of funds from hedge funds and ongoing collapses of the so-called ‘shadow banking system’, these forecasts even look quite optimistic. The outcome next year could be far worse.”

Despite the guarantees to recapitalise the banking system, the evidence is this has not halted the turmoil. While the capitalisation of world stock markets have halved, the losses on worthless debts have grown to a massive $2,800bn.

He points to those who believe a short, sharp recession would fix things saying, “The idea that a quick recession would purge the world of past excesses is ludicrous.” He goes on, “The danger is, instead, of a slump, as a mountain of private debt – in the US, equal to three times GDP – topples over into mass bankruptcy. The downward spiral would begin with further decay of financial systems and proceed via pervasive mistrust, the vanishing of credit, closure of vast numbers of businesses, soaring unemployment, tumbling commodity prices, cascading declines in asset prices and soaring repossessions. Globalisation would spread the catastrophe everywhere.”

He concludes that, “this would be a recipe… for xenophobia, nationalism and revolution.” Alarmed he says “Everything must be done to prevent the inescapable recession from turning into something worse… Deflation is a real danger.” With a further note of desperation, he states, “At stake could be the legitimacy of the open market economy itself… the danger remains huge and time is short.”

Wolf is no alarmist. He is a serious strategist of capital. Yet he can see the real catastrophe that faces the capitalist system and the dangers of revolution. However, he and his class are powerless to act. All he can suggest is tax cuts and the need to “sustain credit lines to those likely to remain solvent.” They are like their counter-parts in the 1930s, tobogganing to disaster with their eyes closed.

The working class must understand what is coming. They should take heed from the warnings of the serious strategists of capital. On the basis of capitalism there is a nightmare coming for working people.

[Tman]

The problem here is the same problem with all zealots, whether religious, political or any other chosen cause, namely black and white, right and wrong, good or bad, with nothing in between.

"Capitalism has failed, therefore we must follow Marx as the only true course" the zealots cry, but where it has been tried (in whatever form the apologists recognise) it has failed miserably. Some alternative, that.

So this is where I say show me a country where Communism/Marxism/whateverism has worked, where the people were happy and didn't need barbed wire and border guards to retain them, the economy was healthy and growing and didn't need handouts from the nasty people in the West---

and the reply is, as always, ahh, but all those countries weren't really Communist/Marxist/whateverist, they were neo-leftist oligarchical dictatorships and so don't count....

All BS, of course. and all said on this very forum more than once.

[BELIAL]

Happy May Day brother borders . Lots of celebrations going on down my way, street parties ;carnivals;mass protests at weapons plants;demos at financial institutions ;coaches coming from all over. Should be a week to remember

[Tman]

"Happy May day" indeed. Shame it's a day late and a dollar short.....

[borders]

"Happy May day" indeed. Shame it's a day late and a dollar short.....

richochet, no flies on you [ have a look at my very first sentence].

[borders]

Happy May Day brother borders . Lots of celebrations going on down my way, street parties ;carnivals;mass protests at weapons plants;demos at financial institutions ;coaches coming from all over. Should be a week to remember

cheers Belial, wished i was down there myself.

[borders]

The problem here is the same problem with all zealots, whether religious, political or any other chosen cause, namely black and white, right and wrong, good or bad, with nothing in between.

"Capitalism has failed, therefore we must follow Marx as the only true course" the zealots cry, but where it has been tried (in whatever form the apologists recognise) it has failed miserably. Some alternative, that.

So this is where I say show me a country where Communism/Marxism/whateverism has worked, where the people were happy and didn't need barbed wire and border guards to retain them, the economy was healthy and growing and didn't need handouts from the nasty people in the West---

and the reply is, as always, ahh, but all those countries weren't really Communist/Marxist/whateverist, they were neo-leftist oligarchical dictatorships and so don't count....

All BS, of course. and all said on this very forum more than once.

in a Socialist Society, workers will be in a position to decide which kind of investments are required to promote the social well-being of the majority. the mere uttering of the word Socialism conjures up the most horrifying nightmare for a small ,extremely rich minority who have hijacked society under their monpolisation of the productive forces, this lop-sided distribution of wealth has created an unstable system and these rich people are compelled to manufacture massive doses of propaganda to serve this system. consequently they have unleashed an unrelenting campaign intent upon tying Socialism to Totalitarianism. ironic really, as US capitalists have toppled many democratic Governments and replaced them with military dictatorships [Chile comes to mind ]. This campaign of lies received an unexpected windfall ironically from the USSR itself. Having usurped state power, Stalin violently shredded every remnant of workers' democracy and proceeded to establish a privileged bureaucracy which enjoyed all kinds of luxuries, although many people did not have enough to eat. While Stalin personally ruled over the bureaucracy, the bureaucracy in turn ruled over the entire country, smashing every independent voice with an iron fist and murdering those who dared protest. Then, having created its own repressive regime at the expense of the working population, the Stalinist bureaucracy was compelled to manufacture its own propaganda machine to give itself the semblance of legitimacy. Without missing a beat and with his own hypocritical smirk discreetly concealed from the masses, Stalin, with the pious hope that all honest aspirations for a genuinely socialist society would be safely set aside, proclaimed this wretched state of affairs a glorious "socialist" society .

now, if we can move away from the fact that Russia, China ,Korea , are not true Socialist / Communists Societies in the truest sense maybe we can expand this discussion.lets try this -----First, because capitalism is an economy based on individual private property, at least on one level,it is a system which places everyone in competition with everyone else. In this respect, it is indeed Hobbes' war of "all against all" where each individual attempts to maximize his or her own well-being at the expense of others. "The only force bringing them together, and putting them into relation with each other, is the selfishness, the gain and the private interest of each. Each pays heed to himself only, and no one worries about the others." (CAPITAL, Vol. 1.) .Second, and on a deeper level, we find that capitalism by no means places individuals on a level playing field in this Hobbsian war. At the outset some individuals, because of historical conditions, own the productive forces of society - the tools, machines, buildings, etc. that are required to produce articles that will satisfy society's needs - but the majority of society's members do not own them and are consequently forced to seek employment from those who do. The capitalists, the owners of the productive forces, are then in business to make a profit and thereby expand the amount of private property at their disposal. But the enterprising capitalist cannot be content with just any profit; each must aim at the maximum amount, since capitalists are in a perpetual state of competition with one another. Extra profits serve as an arsenal that a capitalist can employ to undercut and thereby eliminate a competitor.

But this requirement to maximize profits, resulting from inter-capitalist competition, in turn unleashes an inexorably antagonistic dynamic between the capitalists, on the one hand, and their workers on the other.
Capitalism competes against each other on a global scale , whereby Socialism could also only ever work on a global scale but not as nation against nation, but with nation with nation. over to you MR TMAN.

[Tman]

in a Socialist Society, workers will be in a position to decide which kind of investments are required to promote the social well-being of the majority.

More irony? The average worker can't decide between cheese or ham in his roll let alone make decisions of any long-term importance.

Funnily enough I was chatting to a Romanian last night in the pub, and he was only too happy to give his opinion on the Communist Bloc, Socialism, Communism and the state of his country, and none of it was complimentary. As he said, Communism is great in theory, but doesn't work in practice, and his homeland's been ruined by 60-odd years of suffering it.

Anyway, this is academic. Where it's been tried it's failed; it's a Utopian dream (for some idealists who haven't suffered it) but is now discredited as a non-workable system.
Post endless cut'n'paste articles from obscure sources if you wish, but ultimately nothing will change. There's no appetite for such extreme Left Wing politics; there wasn't much in the 1940s and 50s when the idiotic inbreed Tony Benn praised the old USSR (and he wasn't alone in that) but there's none at all now.
Tried and failed, and consigned to the dustbin of history, never to return.

Nearly missed this little nugget---

At the outset some individuals, because of historical conditions, own the productive forces of society - the tools, machines, buildings, etc. that are required to produce articles that will satisfy society's needs - but the majority of society's members do not own them and are consequently forced to seek employment from those who do.

Breathtaking in it's banality. To think someone actually penned that......