Them & us

Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

Worried about socialism?

The chief executive of the USA's biggest bank, JP Morgan, has attacked socialism.

Jamie Dimon was paid $31 million in 2018. Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at $1.3 billion.

Dimon doesn't mind bank bailouts - socialism for the rich. JP Morgan got $25 billion during the 2008 financial crash.

Fellow billionaire Ray Dalio is worried about capitalism's wealth inequality. He described it as "an existential risk for the US." No wonder they're worried about socialism.

Bills, bills and more bills

The cost of UK benefits, not including pensioners, is £100 billion. Most of this is spent on in-work benefits.

The government tried to save £1.2 billion forcing people who couldn't work off benefits. The former chair of the work and pensions committee, a wheelchair user, said the Tories were "tightening these descriptors to make sure fewer people get the benefit."

However, the National Audit Office say the government has failed to lower the number of disabled people out of work.

Meanwhile, for ten million workers in the UK the cost of contributing to their auto-enrolled pensions is increasing. And if you can't afford the rise, the bosses will stop paying in too. Council tax, prescription charges, TV licence, gas, electricity, and water bills are also going up.

The cost-of-living hikes should be immediately frozen. And we need a trade union struggle for wages and benefits that genuinely reflect the cost of living - starting with a £10-an-hour minimum wage and a 50% rise in the state pension.

The utility giants should be nationalised with workers' control. And let's open the books, to see what these companies can really afford.

Students need a leadership that will fight fees and austerity, photo Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)

No money for art courses, but plenty for art pieces

Cambridge University leads the way as the university that spends the most on works of art - £1.6 million in 2018. But, in February, the elitist club of top universities - the Russell Group - were pleading poverty and promising cuts to arts courses if tuition fees were lowered.

The Socialist Party fights for free, publicly funded education for all. This should include full funding for arts and humanities, and access to such courses for working-class young people, not just sons and daughters of the rich.

See 'Top unis threaten cuts if tuition fees fall'

Agency austerity

Local councils are pursuing austerity, privatisation and in 2017-2018 gave £335 million to private companies for agency social workers.

The Socialist Party says councils should refuse to pass on Tory cuts, pass no-cuts budgets, and bring privatised and agency workers back in-house.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.