Still looking for a couple of the Coleman 'Socialist Thinkers Series' talks to repost but, in the meantime, I've been pleasantly surprised so far by the response to the posting of the Socialist Audio Files:
And at least it tides me over whilst I continue to be in the midst of the current bloggers block.
Damn, too far down the line to just go ahead and delete the blog. Not too far gone that I can consider submitting the blog to the Smithsonian Institute for preservation for future posterity.
Quick, no one's looking. Delete that best of James Blunt playlist from your iPod and upload Steve Coleman's two part talk on Karl Kautsky's Critique of Religion:
Further Reading on Karl Kautsky:
Another bit of flagrant cut and paste from the blog archive.
Another talk from the 1982 'Socialist Thinkers – People Who History Made' lecture series.
According to the Socialist Standard of the time, the talk dates from Sunday 12 December 1982, and was held at the Prince Albert pub in Kings Cross, London.
Further Reading on William Morris:
Another talk from the 1982 'Socialist Thinkers – People Who History Made' lecture series and, again, the speaker is Steve Coleman:
Further Reading on Dietzgen:
I've decided to repost the Socialist Thinkers Series on the blog via mediafire filesharing service. Same deal as the recently reposted audio lecture, 'The Historical Place of the SPGB'; a lot of the old ZShare links are dead and I much prefer uploading mp3s via mediafire. Less hassle all round.
I won't mess you about with the whole posting one lecture a day on the blog like I did with Hardy's economics lectures. If I've got the talks on the computer, I'll repost them as quickly as I can.
There's no rhyme or reason as to why I've opted to post the Belfort Bax talk first, other than the fact it is the closest talk to hand.
For more background info on Bax and the talk, I've previously blurbed about both over here.
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Belfort Bax and the "Ethics of Socialism"
FILE NAME: 02 Belfort Bax and the Ethics of Socialism Part 1.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~59.47 megabytes
LENGTH:1:04:33
Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Belfort Bax and the "Ethics of Socialism"
FILE NAME: 01 Belfort Bax and the Ethics of Socialism part 2.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~41.88 megabytes
LENGTH: 56:01
What with me posting the last of the Hardy economics lectures yesterday, I've decided to also repost Steve Coleman's early eighties talk, 'The Historical Place of the SPGB'.
I'd previously posted the talk on the blog via ZShare but the links are long since dead and I much prefer using Mediafire anyway. The screen is less prone to freezing on you, and there's not as many annoying advertising pop-ups to deal with.
I can't be arsed to add much to the blurb that I'd previously provided about the talk, so I'd just recommend that you check out the talk. Save it and forward it on.
In all probability, I'll also repost the Socialist Thinkers series on Mediafire as well. You've been warned. Free up some space on your hard drive.
The final lecture from Edgar Hardcastle's series of talks on economics:
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Monetarism (Part 1)
FILE NAME: 02 Monetarism.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~58.36 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 1:03:21Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Monetarism (Part 2)
FILE NAME: 03 Monetarism - Part Two.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~ 48.76 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 52:54
Further Reading:
The fourth economics lecture from Edgar Hardcastle:
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Productivity (Part 1)
FILE NAME: 43 Productivity.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~56.15 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 1:00:55Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Productivity (Part 2)
FILE NAME: Productivity - Part Two.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~15.28 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 16:39
Further Reading:
The third economics lecture from Edgar Hardcastle:
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Rent, Interest and Profit (Part 1)
FILE NAME: 04 Rent, Interest And Profit.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~57.81 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 1:02:43
Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: rent, Interest and Profit (Part 2)
FILE NAME: 05 Rent, Interest And Profit.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~38.25 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 41:29
Further Reading:
The second economics lecture from Edgar Hardcastle:
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Labour Theory of Value (Part 1)
FILE NAME: 12 Labour Theory of Value.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~59.58 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 1:04:40
Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Labour Theory of Value (Part 2)
FILE NAME: 13 Labour Theory of Value - Part Two.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~33.49 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 36:21
Further Reading:
The internet connection should go down more often. Not only did it prompt me to pick up a book to read, but I also happened to stumble upon an old data CD hiding at the back of the bookcase that includes a series of audio files of economics lectures given by the late SPGB member, Edgar Hardcastle.
The talks date from the early eighties - I'm not sure of the exact date - when Hardcastle, himself, was in his early eighties, and I'm pretty certain that these Economics Education classes were organised by the old Islington Branch of the SPGB. They may or may not have been organised around about the same time as Steve Coleman's 'Socialist Thinkers' series.
To be honest, I'm not sure how many talks Hardcastle gave in this lecture series, but I do have five of the talks on the disc and I will post them on the blog over the next five days.
Maybe anyone out there with bound volumes of the Socialist Standard close at hand can fill in the gaps: (I.E.) When the meetings were held . . . Where they were held . . . In which chronological order the meetings were held . . . And which meetings have I missed in the series.
As mentioned above, Hardcastle was in his early eighties when he gave the talks. As his linked to obituary outlines, he was the:
". . . son of a founder member, he went to prison as a socialist conscientious objector in the First World War, formally joining the Party in 1922. After studying at the London School of Economics under Professor Edwin Cannan he worked all his life as a researcher in the trade union movement, first for the Agriculture Workers Union, then for a short while for the international trade union movement in Brussels, then till his retirement for the Post Office workers' union where he was chief adviser to a succession of UPW General Secretaries."
He served on the Editorial Committee of the Socialist Standard for over forty years, and represented the SPGB on many occasions in debate. His pen name, when writing articles for the Standard, was 'H', and when he spoke for the Party he was listed as 'Hardy' in the meetings pages of the Standard.
The use of 'H' as a pen name dates from time in the SPGB's publishing history when the overwhelming majority of Party writers would sign their articles with either their initials or with a pseudonym. I can only guess that he used the Party name of 'Hardy' when speaking for the SPGB because of work commitments.
To give some sense of the span of his political life, speaking as a representative of the SPGB, he debated an Economic League speaker in 1927; a New Party speaker in 1931; Dr Edward Conze (speaking on behalf of the Labour Party) in 1937; Sir Keith Joseph in 1975; Arthur Seldon in 1981; Paul Hirst in 1983; and Kelvin Hopkins in 1988. (That's from an incomplete wiki list here.)
A word of warning about the recordings: the sound quality is not the greatest. They are rips from cassette recordings, and it may be a case of having to crank up the volume to number 11 to hear the talks. And if you can hear the questions from the audience on the recordings, you're a superhero character from a marvel comic and i claim my five dollars. If you're a techno geek who can polish and improve the sound quality of these recordings, thanks in advance for any input.
First Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Crisis and Depressions (Part 1)
FILE NAME: 27 Crises And Depressions.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~58.16 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 1:03:05
Second Part
DOWNLOAD LINK: Crisis and Depressions (Part 2)
FILE NAME: 28 Crises And Depressions - Part Two.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~50.87 MB megabytes
LENGTH: 55:11
Further Reading:
Links to the all the talks in one handy post:
Another talk from the 1982 'Socialist Thinkers – People Who History Made' lecture series and, again, the speaker is Steve Coleman:
Further Reading on Dietzgen:
