Twelve Steps From Capitalism to Wellness

How's about this:

The following is a Draft reworking of the original twelve steps as might be applied to capitalism.

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From Capitalism to Wellness

1)  We admit that we thought that we were powerless as regards capitalism—that our lives had become unmanageable, but that 'There Is No Alternative'.

2)  However, we have came to consider that a power greater than ourselves individually, but not collectively, could restore us to sanity.

3)  We have, therefore, made a decision to turn our attention and our lives over to the care of the created planet and all its inhabitants, rather than to expoit what-ever there is for Rent, Interest, Profit and as much lucre as we can get from paid work, aided, collectively, by what-ever force for goodness and wholeness we find, whether we name that as God, The Creator, The Divine Spark, or what-ever.

4)  We have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of capitalism. We have admitted to God, or only, to ourselves, and to our friends and comrades, as to the nature of capitalism's evil and consequential wrongs.

5)  We are entirely ready to have, with God's help, or otherwise, the opportunity to pledge ourselves to help remove all aspects of capitalism.

6)  And we joyfully take up that opportunity.

7)  We humbly, therefore, ask our friends, comrades and, if appropriate 'Him', to help us remove capitalism.

8)  We could attempt to make a list of all persons capitalism has harmed, but we recognise that capitalism harms everyone and everything: most particularly those who imagine that capitalism has any beneficial aspects.

9)  Accordingly we, without attempting the impossible task of making amends to generations of all living creatures,  past and present, that have been so harmed, we pledge ourselves to help create a better world for all.

10)  We, therefore, while Annually continuing to assess our progress, and also Annually celebrating our success, will assess our shorycomings and, when we were tardy in our efforts, or downright wrong, promptly attend to them.

11)  Thus, through through action, self- and collective, co-operative education, prayer and meditation as and when appropriately led, to improve our conscious contact with the plan for wellness known at present as 'the living plan for Co-operative Socialism', and when appropriate,  pray for help and knowledge of 'His' will for us and the power to carry that out.

12)  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we will try to carry this message to all who are presently addicted to capitalism, or despair, 'That There Is No Alternative', and to practice the Co-operative Values and Principles, including the new concept of Co-operative Careship in all our affairs.

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Original Twelve step wording, as relating to alcoholism,  is in Wikipedia.

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For more on Co-operative Socialism, please see Youtube videos and radio interview and, underconstruction, www.co-operativesocialism.org

How The Lunatics Are Elected to Rule Us

Tom Peckham asked about levels of madness and sanitu.

I offered:

The four-type Personality Tests, such as the True Colors variant (their questionaitre is, I think, in my photos section) gives the proportion of rationality (their 'Green' score) in any individual, along with scores for the other three quadrants.

These four quadrants seem, according to anthropologist Helen Fisher's work, to relate to differing levels of four neurocstive substances, dopamine, serotonin, testosyerone and the (three) estrogens.

And, presumably, their brain receptor sites.

Michael Adams' Environics work suggest that the 'Personality Centre-of-Gravity' for cohorts is/can be altered over time (see his books, 'Fire and Ice' and 'Sex In The Snow').

Now, given that stress produces so-called stress hormones, and one of these, cortisol, is on the same biochemical pathways as the two steroidal neuroactive molecules (the sex hormones, testosterone and the estrogens), I've no doubt that levels of rationality (the Green qudrant Personality type: thst associated with testosterone) is/can be manipulated by various means.

Epidemiologically, as Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett and Michael Marmot have shown (eg www.equalitytrust.org.uk) that increased inequality leads to increased levels of mental ill-health and madness; and, presumably their correlate, lesser levels of rationality.

This, incidentally, is why our plan for greater equality, the plan for Co-operative Socialism, was, in part, designed.

Now, the CIA, Mossad, etc doubtless know this and, very likely use psychological manipulation of populations to further their funders' objectives: the continuation of capitalism and, particularly, Zionism.

As, quite likely used in the recent US, UK, Australian and Canadian elections that have caused blatant lunatics like the Ford brothers in Canada to be 'elected'.

Of course, the degradation of Universities into capitalist-funded Monoversities has ended appropriate scholarly, open-published work relevant to these speculations and preliminary evidences.

No-one should be surprised that I and the rest of, perhaps, the most rational scholarly group, the Physical Organic Chemists were made unemployed, and scattered to the winds of misfortune by capitalist governments such as those of Thatcher, Reagan, the Bushes, Mulrooney, Harper and so on.

You heard it, here first!

A Little Big History

It is little recognised that we, the 88% in the United Kingdom (ie, we the Worked Class) have been struggling against a Colonial imposition for a thousand years. At least.

In 1066, The Norman Yoke was pushed, brutally, onto our shoulders, when William of Normany and his fellow 'Northmen', along with his Rouen bankers pushed aside the Saxon Yoke of the Godwins. Who, themselves took over when the Romans went home, leaving the Roman Yoke in tatters.

Five hundred years' later, The City of London's usurers added their Yoke of Usury to our shoulders, when they managed to get Usury legalised, for the first time in England, by the Eighth King called Henry (he of the Welsh land robbers, The Tudors), in 1545.

(The Italian Kings of Usury, the Medicis had previously done the same across Europe, on behalf of their bankers, The Vatican: one of their family was the Chief anti-Christ, The Pope.)

So, to the Yoke of The Landlords (Money Rent and Feudal Serivce, The Yoke of Usury (ie, debt plus interest) was added.

(This was reinforced, with global intent when the European Usurers, based in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Bruges, took over the City of London with their invasion, and Seventeenth Century imposition, expelling the Scots bankers' nominees, The Stuarts; replacing The Stuarts with the Ornge Order, William and Mary.

So, the twin meat grinders of Rent and Usury caused money to accumulate, land-theft (land-'holdings') by enclosure and expulsion of us, the 88%, to increase.

But what to do with us, the by-now vagrants?

Answer: lay the third of four Yokes upon our backs and families: The Yoke of Wage Slavery, which provides yet more money, in the form of Profits, for the Rent+Usury Thieves, The Norman land-owners and European Bank-owners.

Thus was born The Industrial Revolution, with all the poverty and pollution that entailed.

Finally, by the Nineteenth Century, the three Yokes of Rent, Interest and Profit (hence: RIP Capitalism) needed yet another Yoke to be applied: The Yoke of Inescapable Tax.

The latter was necessary so that the 2% (The Norman Landowners and European Bankers and Capitalist Business 'Owners') could pay their Praetorian Guard (the 10%, with salaries and pensions higher-then-us) in order to 'keep us in order': their hierarchical order! Of obedience! Oddly, those Praetorian Guard jobs very often have titles beginning with the letter P (Police, Prison Guards, Politicians, Publicists, Professors, Pimps and so on) leaving us, the 88%, with the D-jobs (the Dirty, Dangerous, Dispiriting, Drudgery, etc jobs). Grrr!

So, here we are now.

With the realisation that fighting the Four Yokes doesn't work and that the alternative (Economic, Social and Ecological Co-operation) does work (despite capitalism's efforts to co-opt it . . . Even with Vegan Running Shoes by Reebok. Oh dear!).

What to do?

I suggest:

A) Join Labour Action for Peace and, so,

B) Support the True Co-operative Alternative, Co-operative Socialism, and,

C) Encourage your local Labour Party, Co-operative Party, Trades' Council, Woodcraft Folk, Co-operative Womens' Guild, Peace Council, Pensioners and Students' groups, to press our Labour and Co-operative Movement leaders, like Jeremy and John, Ian Lavery, et al, to use our Parliamentary Opposition Day time to kick-start a  UK-wide, Planet-wide debate, education, implementation of the true replacement for capitalism: True, Living, Co-operative Socialism.

Capitalism RIP!

(RIP = Rent, Interest and Profits)

Let's get RID of capitalism

(RID = Rent, Interext and Dividends to Capitalist Shareholders)

No more TRIP-Up

(Theft, Rent, Interest, Profits and Unequal-pay for work).

Please share!

And give!

Thank-you!

bit of bio

Yes Cicely Courtneidge was married to Jack Hulbert.

I believe that her father was Robert Courtneidge, a Scots actor/impressario.

My grandfather Courtneidge, as I understand it moved from Leatherhead in Surrey to Walworth in metropolitan Surrey sometime pre or post WWI.

Cicely Courtneidge lived in Herfordshire and, when I was the Chair of the Hertford and Stortford Constituency Labour Party and, also to my honour, Vice Chair of The Hertfordshire County Labour Party and (not satisfactorily in my view) Secretary of The Hertfordshire Co-operative Party, the Chair of the Broxbourne CLP (adjacent to H&S CLP and north of Enfield, Edmonton and Tottenham and a *very* white, angry BNP stronghold was a woman with, also, Courtneidge as her family name: a relative of Cicely perhaps.

Ps, when I was an active, employed research chemist, Science Citations listed only, as I recall, one other Courtneidge: a woman biologist, I think, in the US.

All happy, if difficult times!

Globalisation

Very many thanks, Steven.  Your encapsulation of the dominant (and dominating) system, capitalism is quite right.

There is, at least, one other globalised (in the geographical use oof that term) economic system: the Co-operative Alternative. While I berate those elements within it as being 'Co-operative Capitalism' (Mutuals, some Worker Co-ops, Most, probably, of the Agricultural Marketing Co-ops, as such examples) there are millions, likely some Billions of indivual True Co-operators who work diligently for this globalised alternative to capitalism.

Other aspects to which I was alluding was in other aspects of the term 'globalisation' include the global mobility, now, of people (through all of the migration routes: holidays, family visits, economic and refugee migrations) and the globalised nature of things like Facebook.

Yes, capitalism seems hegemenous (if my poor understanding of thst term is remotely correct) but it is an *immensely unstable* hegemony.

As The City knows all too well!

Again, my very great thanks for your very useful posts and for this very civilised conversation!

Very best wishes,

John

let us build, Co-operatively!, a Micro-telescope

A microscope is something that brings to tiny *into* the here-and-now that is of a size that we can so.

A telescope is something that brings, *to* the here-and-now, something is far away, tiny to us now, but that is of normal, or, even greater-than-normal size.

So a micro-telescope combines both: to bring to us something that seems to be far away and seems to be tiny into the here-and-now.

And, into the fore-see-able.

If we are prepared to building the boat to get us there.

The vision, then, is of a global Co-operative Commonweal.

Ie, The Wellness of all, in The Wrllness of All.

Co-operatively and, thus, equally.

A diversitu of local and national Co-operative Commonwealths.

Brought about, we suggest for the ptesent, by the adoption and implementation, followed by Annual Audit and Celebration, of a living plan.

For True, living,  Co-operative Socialism.

Ie, True Socialism

Art Is

And, I offer, that Art is:

The Presentation, or the Re-Presentation, of something that Is,

Or Is-Becoming,

Or Is-Possible-but-not-Yet,

Or, even, that is Not-yet, and, Not-Possible,

And, Thus, A Fantasy.

Better, stronger together! The advantages of a strong United Kingdom

Better, stronger together!
The advantages of a strong United Kingdom

A questioner elsewhere asks why I favour the Continuation of the United Kingdom. I offered:

Many thanks, Linaire McRae for your question. Since 1979, under the New Labour, Neoliberal Conservative, Fif&Con and Con&DUP governments, *no-one* in the Union has benefitted: anywhere in the United Kingdom and Northrrn Ireland.

That is because inequality right across the Union has been increased. And maintained at a hugely harmful level (see 'The Spirit Level' book and www.equalitytrust.org.uk for the evidence that inequality -income inequality - is harmful to everyone in an unequal society).

But my certainty that we are better together is not based on a self-interested national-, personal- or family-, self- interest.

Rather, it has to do with our shared historic mission to abolish capitalism and all forms of opptession. Peacefully through the Parliamentary process.

To do that we need the vibrancy of an nonviolent culture that is articulated in the English language: one that is as well-heard, globally, as is the Military-Banking-Capitalist brain-bashing American-English (anti)cultural voice that emanates from Hollywood, Madison Avenue and the US Ivy-league Monoversities (Universities-not).

The cultural tradition developed on these islands (and I include the entire island of Ireland in this regard) have, variously and diversely added to that historic mission.

And are invaluable in that ongoing mission.

To take one example.

Of the so-named 'Auxilliaries' in the Co-operative Movement, the Co-operative Womens' Guild in England has been unilaterally closed down. But its sister Guild in Scotland, thankfully, continues.

For evidence of the importance of this, reflect that our whole-Union NHS and National Insurance provision was considerably inspired by our Guildswomen: across the Union.

More-over, it was the Guildswomen that invented the White Poppy.

Not as a symbol, as now usefully used, of the harm done to noncombatants in war (by the Peace Pledge Union and others) but, rather, as a symbol of the peaceful , beneficial alternative to capitalism: The Co-operative Commonwealth (see the book photograph attached).

So, yes, better, stronger, more diversely creative, better to be heard, together.

I hope this helps,

Very best wishes,

John Courtneidge

Darkness and light

In the darkness, I reached out to find the wall.

But discovered that my arm was half-way through the open door.

My friend turned on the light.

So I, safely, found my way back to bed.

Thanks be!

Queens Speech response draft

Queens Speech response draft

Three markers:

   A) The Tories have not won a majority: the nonvoters have.

   B) The WASPI Women, the DPAC Activists and XR Activists, Homeless ex-Service Personnel shoulld camp out on Boris' front lawn (not the gates of  Number10, which The Praetorian Guard control).

Literally: his front garden

   C) Jeremy should stay on as Leader for, at least, twelve months at The Despatch Box.

His opening speech should begin with:

   "We are a Party of Democratic Socialists. Along with our sister Party, The Co-operative Party, which is a Party of Democratic Co-operative Socialists, we will hold this *CRUEL AND INEPT* Government to account.

    We will explain in this House *OUR VISION* of a Co-operative Socialist Commonwealth and Commonweal.

     Once this *CRUEL AND INEPT* Government has completed its Brexit Plan, we challenge it to hold another General Election so that the UK Electorate can choose between Capitalism, more Debt and more Taxes or *OUR VISION* of a True Co-operative Socialist Commonwealth and Commonweal.

    By Tuesday!"

For all,

For The Common Good!

The Best,

Equally!

John Courtneidge

A December 2019 Election, final week, Statement

A December 2019, election week Statement.

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We are Members of two Parties of Democratic and Co-operative Socialism.

When elected to government - by 2024 or well before! - we will convert capitalism in this Country into true socialism: True Co-operative Socialism.

In so doing, everyone will receive, as a benefit of residency, a guaranteed Living Income, socially-determined, and, thus, the certainty of a guaranteed Living Income: including when working as students, apprentices, artists or community contributors: in good health and not.

For those who wish to receive an adfitional income from paid work, that income will be work-place determined up to a socially-determined paid-work maximum. And, thus, tax-free.

Since Rent, Interest and Profits-to-shareholders will be abolished, financial surpluses from workshops will flow back to The Common Purse: managed by a not-for-profit, interest-free money, banking and finance system.

That system will provide interest-free financing to workplaces (which we expect will in all probability, be organised as appropriate co-operatives and which, in fidelity to the Seventh Co-operative Principle, will, naturally, be operating For The Global Common Good.

Eventually, we expect that the use of money for any purpose will fade away, as more and more human needs are Community-provided, Free-at-the-point-of-use.

In so doing, because of this Equality Dividend, wellness-not-illness will become the norm, with Co-operative Careship of economic resources replacing Ownership And Exploitation of the same.

In do doing, our generation will be contributing to global wellness: a global Co-operative Commonweal of local and National Co-operative Commonwealths.

A world where we respond enthusiastically and creatively to the question, 'What can I, what can we,  give?'

Rather than capitalisms's selfishness: 'What can I, what can we, get?'

For all, the best!

Equally!

Signed by the following members of our Labour and Co-operative Parties:

John Courtneidge

And:

Tax and incomes in a Co-operative Socialist Commonwealth

Tax and incomes in a Co-operative Socialist Commonwealth

I/we propose:

- a *socially-determined* £-level for the Living Income for Everyone,

- a *socially-determined* paid-work income cap,

-  the consequential abolition-of-personal tax-as-unnecessary, and,

-  the abolition of Rent, Interest and Profits-to-shareholders-as-harmful.

Very best wishes,

John

What *is* Co-operative Socialism?

What *is* The Plan for Co-operative Socialism?

I've been asked.

So:

In essence the plan proposes conversion of all workplaces into appropriate co-operatives.

An end to rent, interest and profits-to-shareholders

The replacement of Ownership of Economic Resources with time-limited, not-transferable 'Co-operative Careship' contracts with the Community

A money, banking and finance system that is interest-free, not-for-profit, co-operative and 'For The Common Good': both nationally and locally; and internationally

A guaranteed Living Income for Everyone: not means' tested and suplemented, if workers so decide, with Paid-work Income up to and not beyond a Socially-determined maximum

This, therefore, reders personal taxation unnecessary

A gradual reduction in the need for money: by making more and more goods and services 'Community Provided and Free-at-the-point of-use'

There are videos and a radio interview on YouTube and reading materials at www.interestfreemoney.org/papers

I hope this helps!

Please share.

Thank-you!

Nice quote!

From this site:

“He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past controls the future.”
George Orwell

The aim of The Labour Party

Only if our Labour and Co-operative Parties declare for true socialism: Co-operative Socialism will we win.

And complete our historic objective: Clement Attlee's quote Ch6 opening paragraph: 'The aim of The Labour Party is the establishment of the Co-operative Commonwealth.'

Some key terminology

A small, but I consider, key aspect to terminology.

In our Fair World Project's living plan for Co-operative Socialism, we value the term, 'Co-operative Careship: a) because 'care' is a verb b) because the term 'Co-operative' implies conformity with the Co-operative 'Definition, Values and Principles' as agreed, from time-to-time by co-operators, globally (see the ICA Statement at www.interestfreemoney.org/papers).

Thus in this Ecological Assessment process, as described we are seeing better that a set of *collaborative* relationships: rather, we are seeing *Co-operative* Careship at work.

The supportive evidence is Principle 7 in the ICA Statement (ICA= Intetnational Co-operative Alliance). Thus, Principle 7, if I tecall the wording correctly:

'Co-operatives carry out practices, approved by their membership, for the sustainable well-being of their communities.'

The plural, I suggest, to that last word, includes the soil communities, both flora and micro- , macro- and intermediate-fauna.

Thank-you fir this work, Savory Institute and friends, Alan Savory included.

Not getting involved in politics?

In the comments to the item below, at Youtube, one questioner asked why governments should be involved.

I offered the following:

naturerancher  because *our* governments define the economic and social context in which good *and* bad flourish.

It is the objective of the puppet masters that control governments (at present) that we disengage from influencing governments: they want us to be anarchists, while they continue as authoritarians.

Sadly.

The solution is, as in the Comment I offer below.

I hope this helps,

Very best wishes,

John Courtneidge

What to do next

What to do next . . .

The system of capitalism is so binary (ie those that exploit versus those who are exploited) first-past the post is best.

That said, the fly in the ointment are the 10% of families that constitute the exploiters' 'Praetorian Guard' in my 2:10:88 analysis:

   2% of families are 'the capitalists', 10% are their Praetorian Guard while we, the 88% pay Rent, Interest and Profits to the 2% who, then, allow the 10% to tax us in order that they, the 10%, have guaranteed higher-than-us paid-work incomes, perks and pensions.

That 10% will then bully, bribe and brain-wash us, the 88% into complying with the stitch up.

The lack of political education (even by 'working class' organisations such as The Labour Party, the Trades Unions and the Co-operative 'movement') means that, at least half of the 88% don't vote, and, of the reaining 44%, most vote with a lack of clarity.

So the 2% and 10% plus, say 30% of the 88% manage to keep the status quo going.

Grrr!

The solutions that I offer are two-fold: political education to widen and deepen the awareness that a Co-operative Socialist alternative to capitalism is a) beneficial to all and b) feasible.

And, secodly, to repopulate the Second Chamber (the House of Lords here in the UK) on a randomly-selected one per Constituency basis, retiring by thirds and serving for three year terms (once the initial population have served for one year, two years, three years, by lot).

Both may be necessary.

Where the money is to come from

The Co-operative Socialist approach: paid work income cap so no need for personal taxes.

Thus financial surpluses from trading co-ops go into The Common Purse for appropriate investment, circulation and Living Income for Everyone.

Da, da!

The two options

There is no capitalist solution.

Capitalism either offers destitution or debt.

Hence our living plan for Co-operative Socialism: no debt, no destitution.

Brexit

I'm looking forward to a Labour government that offers all Labour Party members free voice and free vote in the next phase of the EU Leave/Remain process.

I have *every confidence, then* that our Co-operative Sovialist solutions will carry the day.

Ps I'm a Labour Party voter, member and activist.

And, likewise Co-operative Party member and activist.

For all, the best!

Equally!

Sustainably!

Peacefully!

Money, banking and finance

Thank-you for the invitation to join this group: which I am happy to accept.

Our money, banking and finance work may be found at www.interestfreemoney.org where various papers are in the archive.

Our Parliamentary work, here in the UK, is archived at www.forumforstablecurrencies.org.uk

In brief, we propose a money, banking anf finance system that operates for The Common Good: one that is Community-provided, interest(usury)-free and not-for-profit.

The most helpful business model that occurs to me is the Public Library system: acting as above, circluating the currency that the national Community deems appropriate and fit-for-use

A bit of personal history

How to achieve change:

The two problems that I have encountered over fify-five years' involvement with groups trying to produce beneficial change is that organisations are rarely clear on what they want, apart from, 'Not this' and often not even with the rider, 'And something better'. That was as far as Occupy got (even though two Occupy Working Groups remain active - the Occupy London/LSX Economics' Working Group and the Occupy Democracy Group.

That said, what-ever the membership proposes is always diluted, ignored and/or co-opted by the status quo's, infiltrated, Praetorian Guard.

Again, that said, beneficial change *does* occur through a combination of the Politics of Protest, the Politics of Practical Demonstration and the Politics of Proposition, along with 'Proposition's Long March Through The System'.

I suggest that one way - perhaps the only way - that the latter works is when a majority *within* The Praetorian Guard want it to happen.

(As a case study (the details of which I don't know, and which I offer as a test-bed for learning) was the abolition of designated carriages for smokers on the Underground trains in London.)

So, yes, the agents of the status quo will always co-opt any organisation.

But one way of coping with co-option is to continuously 'move the flag further out', so that what was originally-proposed becomes normative, as the cutting egde of 'The Domain of Fashion' gets dragged forward.

Keith Joseph did that, in a reactionary sense as the prelude to Thatcherism and neo-liberalism.

XR could do the same . . .

. . . But in respect of ecological restoration.

Through Co-operative Socialism.

But, to do that, XR has to adopt and promote the living plan for Co-operative Socialism.

Which, I so propose!

I hope this helps.

Very best wishes,

John Courtneidge

Helping Co-ops stay Co-op-y

Co-op Membership

In a co-op *in theory!* all members, *and the co-op itself*, should *demonstrably* act in conformity with the ICA Statement of Definition, Values and Principles in its (our) 'Statement on The Co-operative Identity.

This Statement is logged at http://www.interestfreemoney.org/papers/

Ps ICA = International Co-operative Alliance. Its website www.ica.coop is not as good as I'd like.

I hope this helps.

Ps at our 1999 Co-operative Party Annual Conference, Conference unanimously adopted our following Motion on 'Annual Co-operative Audits':

  'Conference invites all Co-operatives to, annually, carry out and publicise 'Annual Co-operative Audits' to demonstrate their fidelity to the ICA Statement on The Co-operative Identity.

No Co-op, yet, has done so.

Organising without hierarchies

Non-hierarchical organising

Many years' ago, a group, Les Amis du Monde Diplomatique asked me if I could design a completely non-hierarchical organisational diagram.

That diagram is logged in the papers' section at:

http://www.interestfreemoney.org/papers/

It's called The Sunflower Organisation diagram.

I hope that it helps.

Very best wishes,

John

Co-operative Socialism: briefly

Co-operative Socialism: going global

As far as a global change:

Co-operative Socialism abolishes all returns to capital:

Ie, it abolishes Rent, Interest and Profits-distributed-to-shareholders, along with selfish incomes to Position-holders.

As such, no capitalist or State-Communist organisation could produce at prices less that those in a Co-operative Socialist economy.

And those Co-operative Socialist economies would be carrying out socially-and ecologically-responsible production: not production for profit.

Getting rid of politics is the aim

An end to politics?

Yes, I'm involved in politics . . . to get rid of politics.

But that requires the abolition of capitalism (and all forms of hierarchy) first.

Hence the need for politics at present.

And, so, for XR to be clear about what it (we) want.

And how to get there: Proposition, Nonviolence, Clarity, Persistence, Archiving and Celebration.

Annually!

Politics is *not* complicated

Politics is *very* straighforward:





    it's people & planet versus capitalism.

    And the alternative that's good for all is already to hand: the plan for Co-operative Socialism!

If it's helpful, when I encounter a person of voting age who says' I don't know the firzt thing about politics', I reply:

'Well it's very straightforward: if you wish to vote for selfishness, thrn vote Conservative, Liberal or Nationalist. But if you want to vote for socialness, your options are to vote Labour (NDP) or Green or, if you have the chance, Labour and Co-operative (CCF).

Now if you vote Green, or choose to not vote, then you give, effectively, a free pass to those who vote for selfishness.

In the case of the Greens, I support, wholhearedly,  any pro-eco policy but if you vote Green, rather than Labour, then you divide the pro-social, pro-eco vote and, so selfishness gets that free pass.'

I hope that helps.

Ps, all this is based on the Four Component Needs theory that is in the papers'section at www.interestfreemoney.org

Which shows, I hope, that the human condition is a struggle between our socialness and our fear-driven selfishness.

Maslow's hierarchy, is not helpful in my view.

History . . . and now

Under (literally, under) imperialism/capitalism (and all Empires use money as power), things are done *to* us.

Then, the bullying mutates so that things (apparently) in Welfare States (like Bismark's Welfare State: oh! So! Egalatarian! Not!) are done *for* us (not).

Then the mutant of control has to morph again so that, as in the present era of (fake) consultations, things are done, not, to us, or for us, but *with* us (not).

Finally, once we have replaced Imperialism, Capitalism, State 'Communism' (not), Big-House-Matron-knows-Best Welfare State-ism *and* refused to 'Take The Survey' offered to us by Our (not) Housing Association, etc . . .

We will have produced The Wellbeing Society.

For The Common Good.

Oh happy day!

By Tuesday!

Woo-hoo!

in short

Capitalism: the use of money for social control.

And of debt for personal and family control.

My Optimism

Where we are, now, after the Chief Rabbi and The Archbishop's joint, coordinated assault

Co-option, which always happens, can be minimised if we are:

    a) clear in our objectives (system change from exploitation/capitalism to Co-operative Careship/Co-operative Socialism),

   b) how we plan to achieve the change (nonviolence&genuine participatory democracy) and,

   c), crucially, we, briskly, 'keep moving the flag further out': on all three fronts:

        - the politics of protest and awareness-raising,

        - the politics of practical demonstration and good-news sharing,

        - and, of supreme importance, the politics of political proposition, engagement, proposition and push-to-enactment.

Back in the 1960's, when I was a teen-ager, we lost because we got stopped: the 'sit-ins' got infiltrated by the drug-dealing CIA/MI5/etc paid co-opers.

 . . . Because we were not clear on what we wanted then.

Nowadays, the key point is that the comprehensive policy mix that constitutes the (living) plan for Co-operatiive Socialism was not known then.

It is now.

So, then, in the 60's, protest floundered into the 70's co-option.

 . . .  and we ended up with Thatcher, Reagan and Pinochet.

It's different now: we know what has to be changed, what its feasible replacement is.

 . . . and we have the necessary public support among us, the 88%.

And jitters among the 10% (ie, capitalisms' Praetorian Guard)

Hence my optimism.

The time is right.

We are the people we have been waiting for.

another take on chemistry and politics

I recollect that the terms Left and Right arose during one or other of the French Revolutions as regards where the Reactionaries (Les Droitists, I guess) and the Progressives sat with rezpect to the Speaker of L'Assembie.

Purely, then an accident following on from whomever sat down, first, in that Chambre.

Now, as to your enquiry concerning Chemistry . . .

The answer is: Everything!

First chemistry is the study and description of everything in the Universe: both 'What is' and 'What is becoming'.

One of the developments in my life-time (and beneficially-so) is that we chemists now include 'the arrow of time' when write chical equations. And even include enthalpic information as to whether enery is released or absorbed.

So, for example, photosynthesis will be written, approximately in a word equation, as:

Carbon dioxide  +  water  +  (light) energy -->  cabohydrates +  oxygen

An Encapsulation That Stands, I think, The Test of Time

The following is a repetition (with a few subedits and an update re Tim Pearce), of an earlier conversation (ie from 2014).

I think that it is, still, a useful encapsulation:

--------------

More on that political diagram

and on Personal Paradigms, too!

I hope it helps.

Thx Ley 4 yr comment.  I add in some of 'mine' at the >j pointers:

Ley : When referring to time, the general accepted method is ''the coil/the spiral''.

>j Interesting!  The idea of a spiral of time is certainly far better than the circle of time 'What goes around, comes around', 'History repeats itself', etc.

In the English-speaking world we read text from the left-hand side to the right-hand side: that's why I prefer to put the Progressive end of the horizontal axis in 'my' diagram on the right – while, yes, the progressive side is often referred to as the 'Left'.

And, correspondingly, the Reactionary (Right politically) as the history end of the horizontal axis.

Incidentally, as I understand it, the political left/right denoters is an artefact of a French Revolutionary parliament: the progressives sat on the left-hand side of the speaker, with the reactionaries on the right-hand side of the speaker.  My guess is that the first person to sit down defined where his friends and opponents sat – it would have been more helpful for 'my' diagram if it had happened otherwise!

Incidentally, 'my' diagram goes back to a posting on a 90's listsev called Co-opnet. My friend and fellow co-operator, Tim Pearce (now, sadly, deceased) pointed out that the Political Compass site had prefigured 'mine'.

Time (as it were!) has moved on and I've found many of these 'two-dimensional/Four quadrant' maps – and I've tried to cross-correlate them in a Pdf of a Powerpoint in the papers at www.interestfreemoney.org , called 'Emotions, Personalities and Politics'.

Ley : (Also, I'm typically bad at explaining things without visual aid, so please bear with me).

>j  Yes – it will be a good deal easier when we can all write/say directly onto Facebook – this world is still obsessed with speech (parliaments etc) whereas, as a chemist I much prefer symbolic language and diagrams . . .

So, back to your spiral of time:

Ley :  It's like a point that starts in the center, starts going out like a circle, and then goes round and round itself. The reaon for this is that the brain will then read it like a clock, and thus it helps processing of the information.

>j  Nice!

Another point is that in thermodynamics (a part of chemistry that tackles the 'why' and 'how' of chemical processes – including life processes and the way the universe works – including how/why it is expanding) a key 'Law' (ie a Truth that is so until we disprove it) is the Second Law of Thermodynamics: a Law that is sometimes referred to as 'The Arrow of Time'.

This says (as does your spiral) that the universe moves on – that going back is not possible (the Second Law has much more to say, but for now it's this time aspect that's important here).

So, whether that forward direction of time is spiral shaped (hard to draw on a computer screen!) or linear, I'm not sure.

But, in a political sense, the arrow can, as in 'my' diagram, be pushed backwards in a reactionary direction, politically – at immense cost in terms of natural forces (entropy, enthalpy, etc) – ie in an unnatural way.

And that certainly seems the case if I look at the past 50 years – from the positives of the 60's to the catastrophe of 'now'.

Ley :  The other reason your graph falls short is that you have the right and left political axis inverted, which makes this ungrokkable (being grokkable means ''to understand without explaination''). Because of the inversion, the viewer has actually read the graph and 'remember' the inversion, taking away from the impact and time put into self-debating the points you make.

>j Agreed somewhat, but I still think that this effort is worthwhile.

Let me give you a hazy recollection: at one time electricity was deemed (quite arbitrarily to flow from the positive pole of a battery (+) to the negative pole (-).  The experimental reality seems, better, to be that electrons (which are negatively-charged – negatively in an arbitrary sense, too) flow from the negative pole (negative since it is populated by ad excess of negatively-charged electrons) to the positive pole (positively-charged since it has a deficit of electrons over the positively-charged atomic nuclei there).

This is a characteristic of human learning - we often get it 'right' but 'back to front!

(BTW a) a good way of thinking about anything is to, first examine it 'back-to-front' and then at right-angles to what is being proposed.

For example, capitalism says that owning economic resources ('property') is a good thing.  The reverse, that owning economic resources ('property') is a *bad* thing is worthwhile considering – as is the perpendicular concept (perhaps) that  that owning economic resources ('property') is neither a good thing nor a bad thing (but a nonsense!).

Ley : I really do think you have a good idea, and I really appreciate the good natured intentions. I just think it's worth making a second revision or experimenting with it so that it's more accessible to everyone on an immediate basis.

j> Thx! In those papers at www.interestfreemoney.org, I've placed an essay called 'How Rigid is your Paradigm?'

That points out that human knowledge is better discussed a paradigm rather than belief, that paradigms evolve – sometimes by paradigm shifts of direction and sometime, even, paradigm inversions (ie that which we thought was right has to be inverted by 180 degrees).

The story of phlogiston and oxygen is a good example: at one time chemists thought that fuels released phlogiston into the atmosphere when they burnt, whereas the oxygen theory says/shows that oxygen if combined from the atmosphere when fuels burn.

Oh, and that essay 'introduces' the idea that we all have a personal paradigm.

'My' personal paradigm is extended by your comment that time is/may be spiral not linear – or even jerky (in either a spiral or linear sense – maybe as the arrows on 'my' political diagram speculates!

And, I guess that's what we're partly here to do – to learn, share, give!

Ley : (Regarding Grokkable, it's also that sensation you get when you see something and it just ''makes sense'', and you wonder why others haven't done it that way before. Intuitive is another similar word).

The Past and The Future

History and the future

My friend, Alphée Michaud, points out that the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons are war-loving bullies (I paraphrase: I hope he doesn't mind).

So I offered the following history:

We, the indiginous English, were left, still here: as before their arrival, when the Romans left, about 500AD.

Quickly, the various Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived from eastern Denmark, as now is.

Then the other Northmen, The Normans, took over, five hundred years' later in 1066AD.

Then the usurers took over, five hundred years' later, in 1545.

All through this, there were indiginous people in England who did the work.

Not the fighting.

Though we did try fighting in the 1640's ('The English Civil War') but quickly realised that war, violence, revolution simply replaces one set of bosses for another.

So, by 1918, we'd managed to get the other route, the vote ('the ballot box, not the bomb'), more-or-less completed (the poorer women had to wait another ten years: to allow the bully women to take control of 'womens' politics').

But, of course, the danger for the bosses was that we, the indiginous English, along with the poorer immigrants, would vote capitalism into oblivion.

So, in 1974, the bosses worked out that if they made voting pointless (by imposing the EU on us) then we'd be put back in our place: which is what Thatcher, Blair and Cameron&Clegg did: all capitalist-funded.

So, now, here we are: we the indiginous English, telling the capitalists' bullies (the Tories, Fibs, New Labour and the Nationalists) that we don't want to be ruled by capitalism in Europe.

Next, we will tell them that we don't want to be ruled by capitalism here, either.

Hence our plan for no-bosses: the living plan for Co-operative Socialism.

Thus: Year 0 the romans arrived, 500 years later they left and the Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived, then 500 years later the Normans arrived, then 500 years later the usurers took over, then 500 years' later (ie now) we'll have got rid of all of them.

By implementing the no-bosses, living plan for Co-operative Socialism!

Quite straightforward, really!

This election and some likely outcomes

Time for some courage.

Is any of the following true?

This election and some likely outcomes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

As to who might win here, I reckon it's fifty-fifty. Labour will gain votes. Especially since the BBC is anti-Brexit and, so anti-Boris.

So,

a) if the Tories win, Jeremy and John will be toast and Labour will likely become a Remain, Communist-lite irrelevance.

b) If Labour win, it will also become a Communist-lite Remain Party.

But in power.

That will create a puzzle for capitalism: it won't try to sink a Boris-led Brexit if he wins (he's their man) so he'll say,  'See, I told you it wouldn't be a catatrophe.'

And, then, he'll push on with the poor-bashing neocon agenda.

Which would mean the the Labour Remainers will say, 'See, poor people, we told you so: vote for us and, in four years' time we'll reapply for EU Membership (which is what the capitalists want).

Should Labour win, the Remainers will fiddle a Remain, poor people will join right-wing populism and then bloodshed.

Or, before all that, there will, in the next month be a surge for Co-operative Socialism, a Labour and Co-operative government will be elected, then, either they will implement it and capitalism will try to crush us, and The Commonwealth will have to come to our aid.

Or, they won't implement it and there will be riots followed by a Military coup.

How we've kept going over Twenty-five Years

How we've kept going over twenty-five years:

My two political principles for twenty-five years (ie since setting up The Fair World Project) are:

1) Don't do anything in secret

It will be dis-covered.

2) Keep moving the flag further out

Ie, place your propodal just ahead of the where the Progressives are and call them to it.

Then, move your offer one step on from there, again and again.

That way, the initial proposal (which was *not*, then, 'In the domain of fashion, becomes normative (just as our earlier Campaign for Interest-free Money has now become).

I hope this helps.

simple, really!

http://www.humantruth.info/voter_stupidity.html

But, sometimes simple=correct.

As in, greater equality is good for everyone.

And:

You cannot have capitalism *and* peace.

And:

The answer is Co-operative Socialism.

But: that involves fixing (replacing) *all five* mechanisms that capitalism uses:

Theft, Rent, Interest, Profits-to-shareholders and Unequal-pay-for-work

Ie TRIPUp

Sometimes too much complexity is chaos.

Sometimes *enough* complexity is enough!

To create an abundance of diversity and creativity.

(Think 'Chemistry'! One Periodic Table, 100 or so elements, three building blocks (protons, electrons, neutrons), two principles (entropy and enthalpy) fused into one(Gibbs Free Energy) . . . Leads to the entire Universe: All within All. Yee-ha!)

A lttle history

When 'I' (re-)started this political work in 1994, I termed it 'The Fair World Project" (since the S-word, Socialism, was verbotten, then).

At some point I came to the conclusion that:

Fairnes  =  Equality  +  Equity

Hence the concept of Socially-Determined Equality/Equity/Fairness/Inequality.

Thus:

The plan for Co-operative Socialism produces equality and difference/diversity.

While we don't, I think, have much evidence on societies with absolute equality (and, as you say, that's not possible given our genetic dissimilarity) the research outcome is that people in more equal societies are happier, while increased inequality correlates to decreased happiness/increased unhappiness.

www.equalitytrust.org.uk and The Spirit Level cite the research findings.

I hope this helps!

Thanks and best!

John

The Logic

The logical train is:

Capitalism is inequality and creates more inequality.

But greater equality is good for all of us, the planet included (see the evidence in The Spirit Level book and at www.equalitytrust.org.uk note: evidence not opinion).

So, for peace, sustainability and harmony we need an economic, social, personal system that creates greater equality: which capitalism, however managed, cannot do.

The latter is due to the fact that the global economic referrent, money, circulates as interest-bearing debt (rent and profits-to-shareholders are ciphers/stand-ins for interest: these are three of the four types of usury).

That, quite artificial life form (usury) is destroying the planet because its (quite artificial) 'need' to make the maximum return in the shortest possible time maximises the generation of pollution, the chemistry of which (and I'm a now-retired/discarded PhD Chemist) is:

Materials   +   Energy   -->   Wealth   +   Pollution

In capitalism, the sale-value of the Wealth created has to be greater than the £-cost of the Materials+Energy.

This, then, concentrates money: which increased concentration goes back into the wealth+pollution cycle: generating exponentially-increasing amounts of pollution. As observed.

So, the economic sysyem that creates greater equality, with all its benefits, is already defined.

It's called the plan for Co-operative Socialism.

Details of which are in the papers' section at www.interestfreemoney.org as a composite of all policies that have been heard over twenty-five years which aim to *replace* capitalism, *not* manage it.

There are a number of videos and a radio interview on YouTube, which may be found by searching the hyphenated term:

"Co-operative Socialism".

The Labour and Co-operative Movements Contrasted

Just as there are two forms of capitalism: the authoritarian version, The Conservative Way, loyalty, and The Liberal Way, no rules, laissez-faire, do-as-you-please capitalism, there are two not-capitalisms.



They are the authoritarian loyalty-demanded, not-capitalism.




And the stringently not-authoritarian not-capitalism.

Thus, it may be that the Labour movement operates/is manipulated into the following pattern:

     Here's a problem, here's a debate, now the vote, now loyalty: demanded.

The true Co-operative and Socialist way is:

    Here's a circumstance, what are the options, let's try this, review, adjustment, success.

Radio Interview on Co-operative Socialism

Radio Interview on Co-operative Socialism

Wow!

Just found this.

https://youtu.be/3coMQcPi7Uw

By searching YouTube with the term:

"Co-operative Socialism"

Please share this to your families, friends and networks.

Thank-you!

The Next Forty Days

As I type this, the scaffolders are marching back and forth along the fast-disappearing scaffolding outside 'my' bedroom window.

This is a metaphor for the next forty days.

Like it or nor, Brexit will happen at the end of those forty days.

We can moan it.

Or we can define what life here, outside my bedroom window, and within, shall be like, after those forty days; as the scaffolder rolls up the green net.

As his co-workers loosen the clamps that hold down the boards and scaffolding tubes, those items get repurposed.

Likewise the old institutions.

Some must be retired, some repurposed, but, for all, life goes on.

So, I propose, Occupy-style, that we mainstream, now, 'What can be, what needs to be, what must be'.

That 'What must be' must be non-authoritarian but not-chaotic.

It must be ecological remedial, socially harmonious, personally nourishing.

I, therefore, propose and request that we institute a forty-day, completely decentralised global discussion to examine the living plan for Co-operative Socialism.

That plan is entirely non-hierarchical, so this proposed discussion could start in any of the following five 'rooms':

  A) The replacement of the ownership of economic resources by time-limited undertakings for 'Co-operative Careship' of those resouces on a 'Better-than-fully-repairing-leases'concept.

   B) The abolition of 'Rent, Interest and Profits-distributed-to-Managers, CEOs and Shareholders' as, both, unecessary *and* harmful.

   C) The introduction of human incomes based on 'A Living Income for Everyone' and, if wished, Paid Work Income between socially-determined lower and upper limits', with as many human needs Community-Provided-and-Free-at-the-point-of-use' (think 'Public Libraries).

   D) A wealth-creating, wellness-creating workplace network organised as appropriate Co-operatives (of which there seem four types), all transparently, and enthusiasically, operating according to Internationally-agreed Co-operative Values and Principles and supported by a not-for-profit-interest-free, community co-operative money, banking and finance system.

   E) A personal and political-structural inversion: from 'What can I, or we, get?' to 'What can I, and we, give?).

   F) A joyful global embrace: of peace and true co-operation, through equality (see 'The Spirit Level' book and www.equalitytrust.org.uk ) as Co-operative Remediation of planet, people and individuals: a global Co-operative Commonweal of national and local Co-operative Commonwealths, 'Thw wellness of all, in The Wellness of All'.

For those who find acronyms helpful, the above is based on the aide-mémoire, 'TRIP-Up'.

ie, The five mechanisms that have existed: but, which *must*, and *can*, be replaced:

      TRIP-Up = Theft, Rent, Interest, Profits and Unequal-pay for work).

Thank-you to the scaffolders for your work!

Now, again, I can see the sky and trees!

And go out and put my washing on the line!

John Courtneidge

Littlehampton

12 September 2019

A Global Co-operative Commonweal! By Tuesday! Not *on* Tuesday!

A piece of pernicious wickedness has come to light:



https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Remainers-so-convinced-that-staying-in-the-European-Union-is-what-is-best-for-the-UK/answer/Barry-McGuinness-1?fbclid=IwAR1EKhl77YIf2VgkYlCZVN1f7nLTarGsQc8jy_gq0hbCNDLZ41iBX_evbuU

The Conclusion states:

   'Whatever its initial driving forces, Brexit is now essentially a coup pulled off by a subgroup of Conservative Party politicians on behalf of tax-dodging tycoons and unscrupulous investors.

   'They have been systematically misleading the British public to hate the EU through a constant supply of anti-EU propaganda and lies. Their only concern for ‘taking back control’ is to rid UK businesses of EU tax laws, financial regulations and employees’ rights. To this end, their immediate objective is to bring about a no-deal Brexit.'

And finishes with

   'They are abusing democracy to create a plutocracy.'




All agreed.


And that is because our Movement, the Labour, Trade Union and Co-operative Movement have allowed it to be so.


That triple alliance has been captured by capitalism and, as such, is the tool of capitalism: just think of Tony Blair, the TUC, and Peter Marks (he who caused the sell-off of our Co-op Bank, our Co-op Farms, our Co-op Travel Agency and our Co-op Pharmacies.

All of these people are in the EU Conspiracy.


Which of them have argued, or even allowed to be argued, the Democratic Co-operative Socialist case for a Co-operative Socialist Brexit?


None of them: they all support capitalism and, thus, support the Remain disinformation campaign.


Such as this internally-contradictory article.


Take just one point: the 'Free Movement' argument. The article shows us a map of the Shengen arrangement area, and tells us that the UK isn't part of it. True. But the article then says that the UK Governments, all capitalist (Blair, Brown, Major, Thatcher, Cameron, May, Johnson) don't control of monitor inward and outward migration.


I wonder how many of these capitalists benefit from this free-flow of cheap labour in the form of cheap nannies, au-pairs, nurses, cleaners, fruit pickers, delivery men, etc, etc.

And that final closing point:

   'They are abusing democracy to create a plutocracy.'


They are not 'creating a plutocracy': capitalism is a plutocracy.


The EU is a plutocracy.


Because the EU was set up to continue the plutocracy, capitalism, in Western Europe, immediately after we had rescued it from Nazism/Fascism in th 1930's and 40's.

Now lets deal with what the article does not speak of.


The article does not speak of the growth and persistance (and close management) of economic inequality in Europe. And here in the UK. And in the Commonwealth. And in the world generally.

All that distress is the cause of capitalism: not just the consequence of capitalism, but its objective.


Capitalism needs distress in order to create fear.

That fear causes selfishness.

That fear causes isolationism.

And that's what the EU is all about: anti-internationalism: a world of regulated movement of people, of tariff barriers and of a Police State:

    An anti-democratic and, thus, undemocratic capitalist imposition:

       The continuation of a capitalist plutocracy.
 

The one that appeared to replace the feudal Norman Plutocracy.


But which never did.


As the resurgence of the feudal core of The Conservative Party shows.


So, what to do?


First recognise that the genuinely progressive movement in this Country (ie, the pre-Blair, pre-Gaitsgill, pre-Wilson, even) Labour, Trade Union and Co-operative Movement was - and is - entirely internationalist and equalitarian.


It (we) opposed the European Imposition in 1974 and we do not see the European Imposition as beneficial now (think Greece, inequality, NATO, etc).


However, the, presently, very few of us who support a Co-operative and True Socialist alternative to capitalism know that, a) better is possible, and that, b) better is achievable.

Democratically.

Not by imposition.


Now, if the Remainers can see any feasible, fast route to an EU that replaces capitalism, Europe-wide and World-wide, then why haven't they done it.


Over forty years.
 

Over forty years of 'peace in Europe' (think Balkans, Turkey, near east, Middle East, the Ukraine, the former USSR generally, all the former 'posessions'/impositions of the feudal European Empires, Africa, Asia, Australasia, the Pacific, north, south, latin America, the Atlanic, Arctic, Antarctic, Pacific, Gulf, everywhere: Misery.), why hasn't Europe led the world to peace?

It's because the EU was founded to continue capitalism.

Which it has done.

Not replace capitalism.

Which it hasn't done.


So, lets continue with the project of internationalist, equalitarian, ecologically-respectful Co-operative Commonwealths, where Co-operative Careship brings about a global Co-operative Commonweal:

   the wellness of all, in The Wellness of All.


Here in the UK first.


By Tuesday!


(Not *on*  Tuesday, as the capitalist Marxists would have us do: wait for Armaggedon.

While we exploit and, so, im-miserate you.

Boo to that!



True Co-operative Socialism!


By Tuesday!)

Saving The World From Capitalism

So, here's the next trade question.

Which goods do we, as a post-industrial society (ie the industrial and manufacturing desert that Margaret Thatcher made: deliberately made, following The Ridley Plan), do we export to Europe?

Or anywhere else for that matter?

And, if any of our customers for UK-made goods requested that we sell to them, will our Government put up tariff barriers to stop them?

Of course not.

So, this scaremongering of no food, expensive food etc is just that: scaremongering.

Unless, of course, globalised capitalism engineers that.

And if it does, we'll know what has trashed us: capitalism.

Capitalism bullied us into the European Imposition (Tory PM Yed Heath did that), capitalism trashed this country (Tory Margaret Thatcher did that).

And, once we'd been beggaried into destitution, the two capitalist Parties did their backer's bidding.

By a) imposing the Blair/Mandleson plot upon us, followed by the Cameron/Clegg Fib&Con 'Austerity'plot on us.

Now, it took a Labour-led National Government to free Europe from right-wing Nazi dictatorship over just six years, 1939-1945.

That same Labour-led UK National Government protected Western Europe from a 'left-wing', Communist dictatorship (by getting to Berlin concurrently with the 'Red' Army.

So it will take us less than six years to free Europe from the latest dictatorship, globalised capitalism.

Because we have the plan that The Labour Party in 1937 had: Co-operative Socialism:

   'The aim of The Labour Party is the establishment of the Co-operative Commonwealth', Cllement Attlee, 1937, 'The Labour Party in Perspective, Left Book Club, Victor Gollanz, and, the same year the Labour Party programme for government.

We didn't manage thst in 1945.

We will in 2020.

Hoping That I'm Wrong

We fellow true co-operators know, that our Co-operative Alternative to Capitalism (the Co-operative Socialist Alternative to Capitalism) *never* gets air-time in 'The Movement'-not.

When, for example, did you ever hear of a Debate at Co-op Party Conference as to whether our Party should adopt and promote the living plan for Co-operative Socialism?

When?

Not yet!

And, then, wait for the capitalist backlash!

On what terms, I wonder?

And Today's Conspiracy Is?

OK, Lets deal with this conspiracy thing:

The Bilderberger meetings are a good example of the capitalists breathing together: co-inspiring one another, just as we democratic and co-operative socialists co-inspire one another.

It's called solidarity: solidarity among the supporters of capitalism (say at the City of London's Guildhall and its puppet, the Royal Institute for/of International Affairs, the RIIA, at St James Square just off Pall Mall: just look at their Corporate membership list: from the BBC, through The Guardian, to Shell, etc, etc).

As Gary Allan says in his book 'None Dare Call It Conspiracy', the conspiracy is to convince us that there is no conspiracy.

So, as the Trade Unions have Congress House, capitalism has its Guildhall, Mansion House, Chatham House (where the RIIA in St James Square is based and which ?instructs? its younger siblings (in New York, for example, the Council on Foreign Relations and, in Canada, which organisation I forget).

Finally, a small book on my bookshelf called 'Conspiracy Theories' (from the same publisher in Hertfordshire that published Robin Ramsey's good book 'New Labour') points out (posits?) that false conspiracies are manufactured and promoted in order to muddy the waters.

In order to obscure the real global conspiracy called capitalism.

Remarkable thing the internet!

Is Co-operative Socialism Anarchism?

Is Co-operative Socialism Anarchism?

John Courtneidge 4 July 2019

It's different from anarchism in that it sees a rôle for each nation State as a Co-operative Commonwealth, not as the abolition of the national State.

The difference as to the present States is that a Co-operative Commonwealth should operate as part of a noncoercive International Co-operative Alliance and according to globally-agreed Co-operative Values and Principles.

As it presently is, The International Co-operative Alliance (www.ica.coop), convenes, about every thirty years, a Committee to review the 'ICA Statement on the Co-operative Identity'.

That last review was in 1995 and the newest added Principle, the Seventh states:

Principle Seven (something like)

'Co-operative carry out activities, approved by their memberships, for the sustainable well-being of their communities.'

The ICA site has a link to this Statement and I've put it, also, on the papers' page at www.interestfreemoney.org

It occurs to me that XR could camp outside the ICA Headquarters and call for the ICA to get on board with this plan for Co-operative Socialism . . .

Sort of Occupy style.

Because if we don't, capitalism will.

T'obrigad!

Hope this helps

Co-operative Socialism and Land

Co-operative Socialism and Land


John Courtneiidge 4 July 2019

Regarding co-operative socialist economics and land:

Co-operative Socialism replaces land ownership with time limited agreements for 'Co-operative Careship'.

The closest to this in the UK is the concept of the 'Fully-repairing Lease'. Co-operative Careship goes further and adds remediation and social purpose to this.

I hope this helps!

A Three-dimensional, Eight Quadrant Spaceflight

It occurs to me that, as useful as two-dimensional, four-quadrant diagrams are (as, for example, when compared to one dimensional analyses like 'The Political Spectrum-not), the traditional English wedding vows created a three-dimensional space.

Thus, the three dimensions are:

   For better, for worse;

   For richer, for poorer;

   In sickness and in health.

So, the apparently ideal place in this eight-quadrant space is:

Better, Richer, Healthier.

Or is it?

When compared to the Hell-quadrant:

Worse, Poorer, Sick

This appears so . . . but . . .

The evidence is *not* that 'richer' is good but 'more equal' is: the evidence is in The Spirit Level book, many subsequent books by other authors and the sequel by Spirit Level authors, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Inner Level.

So, a useful three-dimensional space, I hope.

Come On Andy Burnham!

This is why I support our living plan for Co-operative Socialism.

Which is a plan for the Wellness of all in The Wellness of All.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/we-undersigned-agree-with-andy-burnham

I hope that Andy Burnham will, also, adopt and promote our living plan for Wellness: our living plan for Co-operative Socialism.

Please sign and share.

Thank-you!

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