| COMMENT | ||
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21st December 2006
As we come to the end of 2006 what is
particularly striking is the growth within society of inequality
between a tiny ruling elite and their representatives in the
financial sector on the one hand, and the rest of the population on
the other, which has now reached record levels.
In the same month as the City financiers
awarded themselves bonuses totaling £8 billion, the Manchester
Evening News announced the staggering fact that one in every three
households in Greater Manchester have been served with a court
summons for non-payment of Council Tax. This inequality is
unsustainable within a democratic society. Millions of people now
find that they have no political voice, that no mainstream political
party represents their interests. The Labour government's task is
purely to create the conditions for more and greater profits for
these tiny few who themselves manufacture nothing, build nothing and
contribute nothing to the well being of society as a whole.
The attacks on welfare, health and
education are aimed at opening up these areas for even more
profiteering.
The
notion that profit is everything was exposed most recently in the
BAE Systems scandal when the investigation into alleged illegal
payments to the Saudi Royal family was halted on the grounds that
'an investigation would not be in the national interest.' Nobody
bothered to ask the question why, but the answer is obvious. An
investigation into the business procedures of such companies would
reveal a cesspool of corruption which would turn the stomach of any
decent person. It is not that an investigation would harm 'the
national interest' but rather that an investigation would expose the
rottenness of the capitalist system.
That the investigation was halted at the
request of the Saudis raises the question of why can such an
undemocratic foreign government determine British law? Simply that
where profit is concerned then that takes precedence over any law,
international or domestic,as far as these scoundrels are concerned.
Moreover this is not the first time that
BAE Systems, Britain's largest armament manufacturer, has been in
the frame. Only last year the Guardian newspaper revealed that the
company was identified on American banking records as paying the
former dictator General Augusto Pinochet £1 million in return for
Chilean arms contracts.
Noting all the above it becomes obvious
that as more and more people are dragged into a struggle to meet
their daily needs, where credit and going deeper into debt seem the
only way to survive, so the government will introduce reactionary
laws, under cover of the 'war on terror' to try and deal with
growing social unrest.
It is within this situation that the SLP can move forward and develop into the political voice of the vast majority of the British people and it is within this situation that we can raise the alternative of socialism in opposition to the strife and misery offered by this decaying system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seasons greetings to all our members and supporters and best wishes for a successful 2007.
19th Dec.
2006.
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Designed by Michael Clifford Kerry |
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