NORMAN BETHUNE AND BLOOD TRANSFUSION: A GREAT CANADIAN LIE
If you visit pretty well any Canadian government site, or one receiving its funding from the government, you will come across the claim that the Canadian Communist surgeon Norman Bethune founded the first mobile blood transfusion unit in the world during his brief stay in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. This claim was set forth by Bethune himself, and it has been repeated by such institutions as Library and Archives Canada, Parks Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia and the National Film Board. The reality is quite different, and to their credit both Wikipedia and the Centre for Blood Research briefly mention the actual facts. What were they ? In Catalonia the reality is well known.
On July 17, 1936 the Spanish Civil War began with a military rising against the government of the Republic. The government dithered and procrastinated. The Spanish working class and peasantry, however, responded with vigor, and the rising was soon defeated in the major industrial areas in Spain, in Catalonia, Valencia, Madrid and the north of the country, excepting Galicia. This resistance was the signal for a far ranging social revolution that was the most profound of the 20th century. The centre of this revolution was perhaps Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, where on July 19 the anarchosyndicalists of the CNT thoroughly defeated the uprising. Soldiers listened to the pleas of the people, and turned their guns on officers and recalcitrant units. Other desertions from the paramilitary forces followed, and the general in command of the rising, General Goded, flew from the island of Majorca to a speedy arrest.
When the dust settled it was generally the workers of the socialist UGT and the anarchist CNT who held most of nonfascist Spain, excluding their allies amongst the nationalist Basques. Anarchist organized forces, with a minor contribution from the left communist POUM and an even more minor contribution from the communist controlled PSUC, set out for the Aragon front to attempt to recover the city of Saragossa, lost to the rising because of misplaced trust. Most of the advancing anarchist columns delayed by wasting time securing rural areas, and only the unsupported Durruti column ended up facing the fascists near to the city. The Aragon front was the most active in the early days, and fighting was chaotic and improvised on both sides. It is there that the story of front line blood transfusions began.
In the rear of the anarchist front in Barcelona the Catalan doctor Frederic Duran i Jorda organized the first mobile refrigerated blood transfusion unit as an extension of a blood bank in Barcelona, the Barcelona Transfusion Unit. The first units of blood were carried to the Aragon Front in refrigerated trucks in September of 1936. All of this was organized under the dual influence of the CNT Syndicate for Sanitary Services, an outgrowth of the Syndicate of Liberal Professions, and the anarchofeminist Mujeres Libres who took a particular interest in health care. In Catalonia the anarchist doctor Felix Marti Ibanez became director of medical services and social assistance. Decisions about medical services were made by the plenary assembly of the Syndicate. Eventually the "informal leadership" of the CNT/FAI allowed Federica Montseny to become federal Minister of Health in the Madrid government.
Despite the continued unwise compromises of the anarchists and efforts of sectarian control by the Communists that reduced efficiency and approached treachery the Catalan blood transfusion service remained operative and became, in essence, THE unit of Republican Spain. Communist attempts to control and actually subvert this system began early, even in Catalonia. Some hospitals ended up being controlled by the Communist front PSUC with help from their foreign network. In November of 1936 socialist members of the British Medical Unit resigned from their positions with the Communist controlled Spanish Medical Aid (British organization in supposed solidarity with Spain). They complained that the SMA was "entirely Communist in outlook", and cited the conspiratorial tactics of the Communists that poisoned the atmosphere of the unit at the Aragon Front. Extreme coercion was applied to these non-communist socialists to join the PSUC Communist front. The resignees complained of several instances where this mania for control damaged the effectiveness of their unit. As if true-believer Communists could care.
It was in this atmosphere that the late-comer Norman Bethune arrived in Spain in November of 1936. By this time the mobile blood transfusion units which he is credited with establishing were already a functional concern. Every innovation with which he has been credited by Canadian (and Stalinist) authorities was already in place. Mobile blood transfusion at the front - credit the Catalans. Refrigerated transport units - credit the Catalans. There is one thing where is was actually innovative, and I will deal with this soon. Aside from this his only idea was that the blood transfusion service should be "centralized". This is, of course, standard Stalinist procedure, but in Spain it came up against an improvised libertarian system that actually worked. It was also part and parcel of the favouritism that plagued the Spanish Republicans as Communist dominated units were allotted supplies that were denied to anarchist or independent socialist formations. This reached its apotheosis during the May events of 1937 and Lister's march through Aragon where anarchist units at the front saw their base destroyed by Communist controlled units that the Party thought could be better employed destroying its Republican opposition than in fighting fascists.
The centralization option hardly lived up to its promise of efficiency. By the time he left Spain in July of 1937 Bethune had reduced the Spanish transfusion service to almost total chaos. This was not only because of his extremely unpleasant personality, attested to by pretty well all of his acquaintances before he left for China where he was hailed as a Saint by the Maoists. It was also because of his willing role as a Stalinist tool. His epigram to Spain was that "all those anarchist bastards should be shot". His party friends did their level best in the course of the civil war/revolution to carry this out, and they also added, or emphasized, dissident communists such as the POUM and "uncooperative socialists" who didn't see dictatorship as a sacred goal.
Bethune had left the mess behind him, and despite the political reservations the central Spanish government had only one place to turn if they were to have a blood transfusion service that worked at all. Dr. Frederic Duran I Jorda of Barcelona, the originator of all that Bethune is credited for, became the director of blood services for the Spanish State. He continued in this function until the victory of Franco, and he later settled in Britain. His contributions were cited (with no mention of Bethune) by Dr. Janet M. Vaughan, the architect of blood services in Britain in WW2 in the British Medical Journal. Bethune got no mention because he deserved none. Stronger words such as saboteur might be appropriate.
Where was Bethune's contribution unique, at least in the context of Spain ? It was the rather grim use of blood harvested from dead bodies for use in transfusions. Dr. Duran I Jorda was familiar with the technique which he dismissed as impractical and dangerous. His familiarity came from reading medical reports from the Soviet Union, and in 1937 he issued a pamphlet in which he stated that the reports from the USSR were heavily "political", and his objections to the real technical problems.
The use of blood transfusion began in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s, and was pioneered by Lenin's friend Alexander Boganov. Bogdanov died in 1928 of a "transfusion accident". Maybe. By 1930 his organization had expanded from Moscow to Leningrad, and another Soviet, Sergei S. Yudin, began the use of cadaver blood in 1930. Yudin published his results in 1936, though, as with anything from Russia at the time, the encouragement for "good news" was a life or death matter for the person involved. Yudin's work had been widely trumpeted in the Communist press and when Bethune visited Moscow in 1935 he may or may not have had first hand knowledge with the process during visits to various Soviet hospitals and clinics. In any case in February 1937 in Spain he stated that he would "use the latest Russian-American methods of blood transfusion".
Be that it may another Communist doctor from England, Reginald Saxton, was probably more of a driving force behind the use of post-mortem blood than Bethune was. It it hard to say because the records of the Madrid blood transfusion unit under the reign of Bethune are notable for their abscence. Saxton later in September 1937 published an article in The Lancet in whiuch he extolled the use of dead body blood "as described by S.S. Yudin". It never happened. By this time under the directorship of Duran I Jorda the non-political, often fatal, problems of cadaver blood led to a recognition of reality despite the political sympathies of the Communists. In the meantime, however, under Bethune use of cadaver blood became routine via the practice of the American (Communist !) geneticist who joined Bethune's team in Madrid. This culprit left Spain in May 1937, but transfusion of blood harvested from corpses continued at least in the Madrid zone well into 1938. Its use elsewhere in Spain awaits further historical research given the opposition of Duran I Jorda and the routinely conspiratorial practices of the Communist Party.
What can we glean from this ? First of all is that Bethune's "contribution" to the attempt of the Communists to centralize (and control !) the use of blood transfusion is rather a "contribution" that is entirely sectarian and not medical. Second the real technical "contribution" of imitating ghouls by draining dead bodies of blood would have been seen much earlier had it not been for sectarian politics. This practice continued despite the efforts of an opponent nominally in charge of the blood transfusion service. Credit conspiracy. Given the historical and present practice of harvesting organs for transplant from those whom the government in China executes one should wonder about the source of the cadaver blood used in both the Soviet Union and under Communist influence in the Spanish Civil War. Human life is, after all, cheap to those who wish to build the Marxist Utopia.
Note in Proof: This will be followed by a longer (shudder) examination of Bethune in Spain with all the appropriate references. As I mentioned the true story is well known in Catalonia, but I only read Spanish, and I will have to ask for help in translation. I have no desire to comment much on Bethune's earlier career in Canada and the USA except as it relates to his Spanish myth. Nor do I wish to comment much on the later Maoist hagiography of him in China where he may or may not have achieved humanity. The purpose of this piece is to attack a pervasive state-sponsored myth in my own country, Canada, and to correct some widely held falsehoods about the status of Bethune. At this point I do not presume to know the political opinions of Duran I Jorge. All that is demonstrable is that he was not Communist. My own opinion is that he was a Catalan nationalist of liberal opinions. I stand to be corrected on this matter.
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Friday, October 25, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Reading Mark Twain...'Christian Science'
Reading Mark Twain...'Christian Science'
'Christian Science'....Mark Twain, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1907
I was continuing my task of reading anything available, in print or on the internet, when I came upon this book, over a century old, in the recesses of one of my storage boxes. The volume life in 1899 in The Cosmopolitan magazine. This is the first half of the book. The second half, a worthy addendum to the first, also began life as a periodical series in the North American Review in 1907 even though it had been written about 4 years (Twain's estimate) earlier. The two halves were collected into book form in the same year.
At the time of composition Christian Science was the "cult of the day" in the USA, the very heartland of cults. It was actually newsworthy unlike its embalmed modern cadaver. A few decades earlier the Mormons were the most prominent item in the American bestiary of outré religious opinion, but their appeal was minimal in comparison to Mary Eddy's creation.
The appeal was so great put forward his opinion that CS would grow powerful enough to challenge the Catholic Church itself. He was obviously mistaken on that point, probably because as an American he had a poor appreciation of more sophisticated ways for shepherds to fleece their flocks than those employed by upstart cults in the USA. He based his belief on the supremely authoritarian organization of Christian Science, and the well demonstrated business acumen of its founder.
The latter was pretty well the only thing that he found to praise Eddy's cult. His book is an extended demolition of the honesty, consistency and writing ability of Eddy. It also touches on Eddy's pretense to originality. As he drives his bulldozer through the Church's edifice the whole polemic is enlightened by Twain's well known wit and sarcasm.
An examination of CS' documents and Eddy's other writings presents a picture of a very poorly disguised totalitarianism. Eddy is seen to be a grasping tyrant who evolved from a desire for riches to a person whose main desires were for fame and worship. She, in fact, evolved towards an underhanded claim to divinity. In the end she was divided between seeing herself as the modern Christ and seeing herself as the modern equivalent of her Virgin Namesake.
Twain tears her written output to shreds. Probably an easy task. He does, however, have an admiration for the writing skills of the author of 'Science and Health', the cult's second Bible. He found it impossible what he considered the lucid and coherent style of this book with the confused muddle of pretty well everything else that Eddy put to paper. Thus he formed the opinion that Eddy's book was either ghost written or lifted in bulk from another author.
While it is obvious true that Eddy borrowed the ideology of her cult from others - some of this Twain mentioned - I think that MT goes a bit too far in attempting to prove that 'Science and Health' had a hidden author. He relied on literary detective work that left too much to the imagination.
Twain made one major concession to CS' methods. He recognized the power of suggestion and the efficacy of the placebo. Christian Science's methods of "healing" do occasionally seem to work. They are, however, no more efficient than those of a hypnotist. As an aside Eddy did have an earlier association with a hypnotist. In a later feat of bad temper (or bad faith perhaps) she forbade her devoted flock to have anything to do with hypnotism - on penalty of excommunication.
Personally I think that MT goes too far in his estimation of what hypnotism could do. I am sure, however, that he would agree with the common sense observation that no hypnotist or purveyor of religion has ever performed the miracle...of...curing..an...amputee.
Altogether this is an amusing little book on a topic that has, mercifully, shrunk into to obscurity. I wonder how Twain would treat the far more numerous cults of our own day.
'Christian Science'....Mark Twain, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1907
I was continuing my task of reading anything available, in print or on the internet, when I came upon this book, over a century old, in the recesses of one of my storage boxes. The volume life in 1899 in The Cosmopolitan magazine. This is the first half of the book. The second half, a worthy addendum to the first, also began life as a periodical series in the North American Review in 1907 even though it had been written about 4 years (Twain's estimate) earlier. The two halves were collected into book form in the same year.
At the time of composition Christian Science was the "cult of the day" in the USA, the very heartland of cults. It was actually newsworthy unlike its embalmed modern cadaver. A few decades earlier the Mormons were the most prominent item in the American bestiary of outré religious opinion, but their appeal was minimal in comparison to Mary Eddy's creation.
The appeal was so great put forward his opinion that CS would grow powerful enough to challenge the Catholic Church itself. He was obviously mistaken on that point, probably because as an American he had a poor appreciation of more sophisticated ways for shepherds to fleece their flocks than those employed by upstart cults in the USA. He based his belief on the supremely authoritarian organization of Christian Science, and the well demonstrated business acumen of its founder.
The latter was pretty well the only thing that he found to praise Eddy's cult. His book is an extended demolition of the honesty, consistency and writing ability of Eddy. It also touches on Eddy's pretense to originality. As he drives his bulldozer through the Church's edifice the whole polemic is enlightened by Twain's well known wit and sarcasm.
An examination of CS' documents and Eddy's other writings presents a picture of a very poorly disguised totalitarianism. Eddy is seen to be a grasping tyrant who evolved from a desire for riches to a person whose main desires were for fame and worship. She, in fact, evolved towards an underhanded claim to divinity. In the end she was divided between seeing herself as the modern Christ and seeing herself as the modern equivalent of her Virgin Namesake.
Twain tears her written output to shreds. Probably an easy task. He does, however, have an admiration for the writing skills of the author of 'Science and Health', the cult's second Bible. He found it impossible what he considered the lucid and coherent style of this book with the confused muddle of pretty well everything else that Eddy put to paper. Thus he formed the opinion that Eddy's book was either ghost written or lifted in bulk from another author.
While it is obvious true that Eddy borrowed the ideology of her cult from others - some of this Twain mentioned - I think that MT goes a bit too far in attempting to prove that 'Science and Health' had a hidden author. He relied on literary detective work that left too much to the imagination.
Twain made one major concession to CS' methods. He recognized the power of suggestion and the efficacy of the placebo. Christian Science's methods of "healing" do occasionally seem to work. They are, however, no more efficient than those of a hypnotist. As an aside Eddy did have an earlier association with a hypnotist. In a later feat of bad temper (or bad faith perhaps) she forbade her devoted flock to have anything to do with hypnotism - on penalty of excommunication.
Personally I think that MT goes too far in his estimation of what hypnotism could do. I am sure, however, that he would agree with the common sense observation that no hypnotist or purveyor of religion has ever performed the miracle...of...curing..an...amputee.
Altogether this is an amusing little book on a topic that has, mercifully, shrunk into to obscurity. I wonder how Twain would treat the far more numerous cults of our own day.
Labels:
Christian Science,
cults,
literature,
Mark Twain,
religion
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
The Spanish Inquisition by Joseph Perez
The Spanish Inquisition [Joseph Perez, Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-10790-0 ; Translated from the French]
I found this brief history and analysis of the Spanish Inquisition to be a real eye opener. The institution is followed from its inception in 1479 to its final abolition in 1834. The book is structured into two parts the history per se and the setting of the 'Holy Office' in the political, economic and social life of Spain.
It should be noted that the Spanish Inquisition, in contrast to the Inquisition elsewhere in Europe, was more a creation of the state as opposed to the Church.While the Inquisition everywhere operated separately from the regular ecclesiastic hierarchy uniquely in Spain it was under the control of the monarchy rather than the Papacy. The personnel of the Spanish Inquisition were, from the first, appointed by the monarch. The Holy Office soon became a lucrative cash cow,for the state as the benefits of property confiscation accrued to the Crown.
The Papacy initially tried to assert control, but this was a total failure. In general the Vatican failed in many other efforts to extend its power over and against that of the "Catholic Monarchs" of Spain. Appointees to bishoprics were nominated by the Crown. The government also exercised its power to decide whether Papal Bulls would or would not be proclaimed in Spanish territories. The Bull condemning the enslavement of native populations in the New World, for instance, was forbidden to be read in Spanish possessions.
Once established the Inquisition developed a bureaucratic apparatus. Unlike modern state bureaucracies the Holy Office was actually quite effective. This meant that it periodically "ran out of victims". This is in contrast to modern bureaucracies who simply can never reduce the supply of victims (called "clients" in modern social work bureaucratese). Actually changing the social conditions that produce the raw material that these kindly souls work on isn't even conceivable.
The Inquisition had to shift its focus several times in its history. It was originally set up to ferret out 'crypto-Jews'. These were people who had publically converted (conversos) to Christianity in response to the long history of Iberian anti-Semitism culminating in the expulsion of the Jewish minority in 1492. They were suspected, occasionally with cause, of practicing Judaism in private. These were the golden days of Torquemada, the confessor of Ferdinand and Isabella who was appointed Grand Inquisitor.
As the sixteenth century wore on the 'New Christians' , also known as marranos, became less and less a publicly acceptable target as the generations separating them from Judaism multiplied. Luckily (for the Inquisition at least) there were "crypto-Muslims", also known as moriscos to search for. This population was forced to convert in the early 16th century. In contrast to the Jews these people lived in rather compact areas, and there was the possibility of rebellion to trouble the monarchs, along with a potential foreign ally in the Ottoman Empire. In 1568 they rebelled in the area of the former Emirate of Granada. Finally in 1609 the moriscos, along with unconverted Muslims, were expelled. The delay (and relatively less harsh treatment) as compared to the Jews was likely connected to the possibility of the Muslims fighting back.
Jews and Muslims, actual or "hidden", became scarce despite the application of Blood Purity criteria that were used against the descendants of the minority religions. The Inquisition began to turn its "social work" to Protestantism, Humanism and Illuminism (Spanish alumbradors). The latter was a semi-mystical current of opinion with no connection to the more recent 'Illuminati'. Suspicion of witchcraft and sorcery, usually mislabelled peasant superstition, provided a small amount of busywork for the Holy Office functionaries, but the 'witch-craze' frenzies of Northern Europe were conspicuously absent. So-called "witches" were treated far more leniently than other targets.
The Inquisition in its decline tried to assert jurisdiction over simple "sin" as opposed to "heresy". This lacked the enthusiastic backing of the Throne, but it at least kept the wheels turning.
"
In its dotage the Holy Office became more and more what it was under the religious camouflage, a political police. The Inquisition was too useful to the state for it to be abolished.
Having drunk almost to the dregs of the blood and Jews, Muslims and their descendants, along with Protestants, Humanists, Illuminists and other "heretics" the Inquisition stumbled onwards until it was finally abolished in the Napoleonic wars and their aftermath. The Holy Office gradually declined in both importance and severity.When the liberals re-established the Constitution in 1820 the populace of Madrid rose up and stormed the Inquisition's prison. They found only one inmate there. The last person murdered by the institution was a Valencian deist, Cayetano Ripoll, in 1826. The final abolition came in 1834 when the Holy Office under another name, (the 'Faith Commissions') sunk beneath the weight of history. In 1838 the Spanish intellectual Larra coined its epitaph:
As previously mentioned this book is only half chronological history. The latter half is a study of the personnel, operation and structure of the Holy Office. There is also a chapter detailing the typical "trial" of the presumed heretic. The mutual effects of the Inquisition and economic trends, literature and science are looked at in detail. The penultimate chapter is concerned with the relations of the institution and the political authorities. The Holy Office was very much a weapon of regalist centralism. This work ends with a comparison of the Inquisition to modern totalitarian regimes such as Nazi-ism and Soviet Communism. In my opinion the latter case is closer to the mark, and a comparison of the Holy Office to modern "attitude correction" bureaucracies" might also be apt.
Very interesting. This book seems to be about the right length for the simply curious, neither too brief nor too long. An excellent introduction to the subject.
."
I found this brief history and analysis of the Spanish Inquisition to be a real eye opener. The institution is followed from its inception in 1479 to its final abolition in 1834. The book is structured into two parts the history per se and the setting of the 'Holy Office' in the political, economic and social life of Spain.
It should be noted that the Spanish Inquisition, in contrast to the Inquisition elsewhere in Europe, was more a creation of the state as opposed to the Church.While the Inquisition everywhere operated separately from the regular ecclesiastic hierarchy uniquely in Spain it was under the control of the monarchy rather than the Papacy. The personnel of the Spanish Inquisition were, from the first, appointed by the monarch. The Holy Office soon became a lucrative cash cow,for the state as the benefits of property confiscation accrued to the Crown.
The Papacy initially tried to assert control, but this was a total failure. In general the Vatican failed in many other efforts to extend its power over and against that of the "Catholic Monarchs" of Spain. Appointees to bishoprics were nominated by the Crown. The government also exercised its power to decide whether Papal Bulls would or would not be proclaimed in Spanish territories. The Bull condemning the enslavement of native populations in the New World, for instance, was forbidden to be read in Spanish possessions.
Once established the Inquisition developed a bureaucratic apparatus. Unlike modern state bureaucracies the Holy Office was actually quite effective. This meant that it periodically "ran out of victims". This is in contrast to modern bureaucracies who simply can never reduce the supply of victims (called "clients" in modern social work bureaucratese). Actually changing the social conditions that produce the raw material that these kindly souls work on isn't even conceivable.
The Inquisition had to shift its focus several times in its history. It was originally set up to ferret out 'crypto-Jews'. These were people who had publically converted (conversos) to Christianity in response to the long history of Iberian anti-Semitism culminating in the expulsion of the Jewish minority in 1492. They were suspected, occasionally with cause, of practicing Judaism in private. These were the golden days of Torquemada, the confessor of Ferdinand and Isabella who was appointed Grand Inquisitor.
As the sixteenth century wore on the 'New Christians' , also known as marranos, became less and less a publicly acceptable target as the generations separating them from Judaism multiplied. Luckily (for the Inquisition at least) there were "crypto-Muslims", also known as moriscos to search for. This population was forced to convert in the early 16th century. In contrast to the Jews these people lived in rather compact areas, and there was the possibility of rebellion to trouble the monarchs, along with a potential foreign ally in the Ottoman Empire. In 1568 they rebelled in the area of the former Emirate of Granada. Finally in 1609 the moriscos, along with unconverted Muslims, were expelled. The delay (and relatively less harsh treatment) as compared to the Jews was likely connected to the possibility of the Muslims fighting back.
Jews and Muslims, actual or "hidden", became scarce despite the application of Blood Purity criteria that were used against the descendants of the minority religions. The Inquisition began to turn its "social work" to Protestantism, Humanism and Illuminism (Spanish alumbradors). The latter was a semi-mystical current of opinion with no connection to the more recent 'Illuminati'. Suspicion of witchcraft and sorcery, usually mislabelled peasant superstition, provided a small amount of busywork for the Holy Office functionaries, but the 'witch-craze' frenzies of Northern Europe were conspicuously absent. So-called "witches" were treated far more leniently than other targets.
The Inquisition in its decline tried to assert jurisdiction over simple "sin" as opposed to "heresy". This lacked the enthusiastic backing of the Throne, but it at least kept the wheels turning.
"
"By turning its attention to the mass of Old Christians and by, in many cases, quibbling over the meaning of words-sorcery, superstition, improper talk, deviant behavior- while continuing to pursue Judaisers and Protestants if any still came to their notice the Inquisition found a way to survive right up to the early nineteenth century". (pages 92-93)
In its dotage the Holy Office became more and more what it was under the religious camouflage, a political police. The Inquisition was too useful to the state for it to be abolished.
"Above all, for the State authorities, it had become an instrument of control used for the repression of all ideological and political opposition.In this respect, it could still prove to be terrifyingly effective, as we shall see in relation to the Macanaz affair and the Olavide trial. By the end of the eighteenth century, essentially the Inquisition was operating as a political police force devoted to opposing the introduction of revolutionary and liberal ideas." (pages 93-94)
Having drunk almost to the dregs of the blood and Jews, Muslims and their descendants, along with Protestants, Humanists, Illuminists and other "heretics" the Inquisition stumbled onwards until it was finally abolished in the Napoleonic wars and their aftermath. The Holy Office gradually declined in both importance and severity.When the liberals re-established the Constitution in 1820 the populace of Madrid rose up and stormed the Inquisition's prison. They found only one inmate there. The last person murdered by the institution was a Valencian deist, Cayetano Ripoll, in 1826. The final abolition came in 1834 when the Holy Office under another name, (the 'Faith Commissions') sunk beneath the weight of history. In 1838 the Spanish intellectual Larra coined its epitaph:
"Here lies the Inquisition, the daughter of faith and fanaticism. She died of old age." (page 100)
As previously mentioned this book is only half chronological history. The latter half is a study of the personnel, operation and structure of the Holy Office. There is also a chapter detailing the typical "trial" of the presumed heretic. The mutual effects of the Inquisition and economic trends, literature and science are looked at in detail. The penultimate chapter is concerned with the relations of the institution and the political authorities. The Holy Office was very much a weapon of regalist centralism. This work ends with a comparison of the Inquisition to modern totalitarian regimes such as Nazi-ism and Soviet Communism. In my opinion the latter case is closer to the mark, and a comparison of the Holy Office to modern "attitude correction" bureaucracies" might also be apt.
Very interesting. This book seems to be about the right length for the simply curious, neither too brief nor too long. An excellent introduction to the subject.
."
Monday, January 21, 2013
CONJUNCTION
GREAT CONJUNCTION:
A great conjunction in the east south east sky tonight. Perfect visibility here in Winnipeg with Jupiter slightly to the left and above the waxing Moon. Gotta get out there with binoculars, 41 below windchill or not.
Frozen but happy in Winnipeg.
A great conjunction in the east south east sky tonight. Perfect visibility here in Winnipeg with Jupiter slightly to the left and above the waxing Moon. Gotta get out there with binoculars, 41 below windchill or not.
Frozen but happy in Winnipeg.
Labels:
amateur astronomy,
astronomy,
conjunctions,
Jupiter,
moon
Sunday, January 20, 2013
A Freer Market
A FREE-ER MARKET
One of the perpetual myths of our so-called capitalist society is that we have the closest approach to a "free market", and that this is all to the good as it connects with our other freedoms. Is this true ? Certainly some like the left libertarians who are in favour of an actual free market would disagree with the idea that our present system is approximating an such thing. The left libertarians are actually quite the dissidents as not just apologists for the present order but "critics" such as academo-Marxists assume that free market describes the present state of things. The proof of the assertion that we don't live in a free market I will leave to the left-libs with their criticism of the many monopolies that states grant to certain insitutions and individuals but not to others. I can do more better than recommend the works of Kevin Carson, an outstanding modern exponent of their views.
How a real free market differs from what we call it today can be found in what is called dynamic pricing. This goes along well with internet marketing as it consists of constantly chaging prices to reflect an actual "market in the here and now". Obviously not all goods can be sold in such a way, and the ability of this much closer representation of marginal utility to the purchaser says nothing about the various advantages (monopolies) granted to some venders but not others prior to placing the commodity on the market.
I came about this interesting development in a recent (Jan 21/2013) issue of Time Magazine. The article was titled 'This Offer Won't Last: Why Sellers are Switching to Dynamic Pricing' (page 56). I strongly recommend this article on how our version of a "market" is evolving back to how town markets used to be and still are in many minor ways
One of the perpetual myths of our so-called capitalist society is that we have the closest approach to a "free market", and that this is all to the good as it connects with our other freedoms. Is this true ? Certainly some like the left libertarians who are in favour of an actual free market would disagree with the idea that our present system is approximating an such thing. The left libertarians are actually quite the dissidents as not just apologists for the present order but "critics" such as academo-Marxists assume that free market describes the present state of things. The proof of the assertion that we don't live in a free market I will leave to the left-libs with their criticism of the many monopolies that states grant to certain insitutions and individuals but not to others. I can do more better than recommend the works of Kevin Carson, an outstanding modern exponent of their views.
How a real free market differs from what we call it today can be found in what is called dynamic pricing. This goes along well with internet marketing as it consists of constantly chaging prices to reflect an actual "market in the here and now". Obviously not all goods can be sold in such a way, and the ability of this much closer representation of marginal utility to the purchaser says nothing about the various advantages (monopolies) granted to some venders but not others prior to placing the commodity on the market.
I came about this interesting development in a recent (Jan 21/2013) issue of Time Magazine. The article was titled 'This Offer Won't Last: Why Sellers are Switching to Dynamic Pricing' (page 56). I strongly recommend this article on how our version of a "market" is evolving back to how town markets used to be and still are in many minor ways
Labels:
economics,
free market,
Kevin Carson,
Time Magazine
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
LIFE IN MUTUALISM:
IN THE BEGINNING PART ONE-THE TIMES OF GENESIS:
Life probably began about 3.8 billion years ago.during the Eoarchaen Era (4 > 3.6 Billion years ago).This is the approximate time that we find the oldest rocks of Earth. Before this time the surface of the Earth was molten, and hence there there is no recoverable record., This was the Hadean eon. The Eoarchaen era left few signs in the fossil record, but of those which remain there is at least some evidence of bacterial colonies. Why 'colonies' ? Why was life undetectable until the arrival of a colonial lifestyle ? It's a question that can presently have no definitive answer, but there is the distinct possibility that colonial forms of life had an advantage in terms of natural selection. Individual organisms no doubt evolved before the colonial forms that give the first fossil evidence of life.Yet, invoking nothing but natural selection it seems that "collections" of organisms had a selective advantage over those who remain as singular cells.
The evolution of a cooperative way of living, insofar as certain cellular organs such as mitochondria and chloroplasts were probably in place before the colonial stage came into being. But this is not necessarily so. It could be that the mass of a colonial group of organisms was an easier target for so-called parasites which later became indispensible to life.It would be interesting see if this question of priority will be addressed in the future. For the moment let us note that the earliest definite evidence of life is of "cells living together", and that these cells were either likely to become composites or were formed of cells that were already "mutualistic". Lets keep this in mind.
IN THE BEGINNING PART ONE-THE TIMES OF GENESIS:
Life probably began about 3.8 billion years ago.during the Eoarchaen Era (4 > 3.6 Billion years ago).This is the approximate time that we find the oldest rocks of Earth. Before this time the surface of the Earth was molten, and hence there there is no recoverable record., This was the Hadean eon. The Eoarchaen era left few signs in the fossil record, but of those which remain there is at least some evidence of bacterial colonies. Why 'colonies' ? Why was life undetectable until the arrival of a colonial lifestyle ? It's a question that can presently have no definitive answer, but there is the distinct possibility that colonial forms of life had an advantage in terms of natural selection. Individual organisms no doubt evolved before the colonial forms that give the first fossil evidence of life.Yet, invoking nothing but natural selection it seems that "collections" of organisms had a selective advantage over those who remain as singular cells.
The evolution of a cooperative way of living, insofar as certain cellular organs such as mitochondria and chloroplasts were probably in place before the colonial stage came into being. But this is not necessarily so. It could be that the mass of a colonial group of organisms was an easier target for so-called parasites which later became indispensible to life.It would be interesting see if this question of priority will be addressed in the future. For the moment let us note that the earliest definite evidence of life is of "cells living together", and that these cells were either likely to become composites or were formed of cells that were already "mutualistic". Lets keep this in mind.
Monday, December 31, 2012
PREDICTABLE AND OTHERWISE PART 2
RECENT REBELLIONS:
Once more it has been an extended time since I posted here. All this time I have been quite (excessively ?) active on Facebook, Almost always reposting the stories of others. If this blog continues to exist it has to have some purpose. I think that its purpose is to be a sounding board for my own personal opinions. Too bad that it can no longer be a collection of links to other anarchist sites. All my links got dumped into the aether when I foolishly signed up for the 'new look' Blogger. Live and learn I guess, though I greatly miss all the hours I put into that list.
All that being said I have delayed the second part of this article far too long. This has been not only because of a lack of time. In setting my beliefs out I have found that I have changed my opinion in the many years since I first formulated it. I am still of the opinion that managerial societies have been and will be racked by periodic crises and that the triggers for such crises are something beyond simple economics. What I now doubt is that idea that they can be predicted in terms of timing. The problem comes with the variable nature of such crises. When the duration of a crisis varies, and it is hard to set a reference point in terms of beginning, middle and end it is pure hubris to imagine that one can calculate a predictable timeline.
I's still like to return to thius subject, but other matters call for attention. See you soon.
RECENT REBELLIONS:
Once more it has been an extended time since I posted here. All this time I have been quite (excessively ?) active on Facebook, Almost always reposting the stories of others. If this blog continues to exist it has to have some purpose. I think that its purpose is to be a sounding board for my own personal opinions. Too bad that it can no longer be a collection of links to other anarchist sites. All my links got dumped into the aether when I foolishly signed up for the 'new look' Blogger. Live and learn I guess, though I greatly miss all the hours I put into that list.
All that being said I have delayed the second part of this article far too long. This has been not only because of a lack of time. In setting my beliefs out I have found that I have changed my opinion in the many years since I first formulated it. I am still of the opinion that managerial societies have been and will be racked by periodic crises and that the triggers for such crises are something beyond simple economics. What I now doubt is that idea that they can be predicted in terms of timing. The problem comes with the variable nature of such crises. When the duration of a crisis varies, and it is hard to set a reference point in terms of beginning, middle and end it is pure hubris to imagine that one can calculate a predictable timeline.
I's still like to return to thius subject, but other matters call for attention. See you soon.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A MOLLY POINT OF VIEW:
PREDICTABLE AND OTHERWISE PART 1:
For many years I have held a rather heretical (in the usual lefty point of view) opinion. I personally believe that we are living in a post capitalist society that is better described as "managerial" rather than "capitalist". This is, of course, a moot point, and I recognize that no society is purely dependent on only one mode of production and exchange. The inclusion of exchange is important to differentiate my point of view from merely another 'historical materialist' point of view, one that is solely focused on prouction and neglects to one degree or another the world of consumption.
I'll leave the justification of this opinion for another time.What is important here is just like an idealized "capitalist" society has its periodic crises somehow connected to "overproduction" so does managerial society has its own cycles.of crisis. The business cycle, of course, never followed the rule book laid out by Marx in Capital . When Marx wrote his magnum opus in the most free trade society in the world at the time of its maximum free trade existence ie its closest approach to an ideal "capitalism" it was at least seeminly possible that history would follow the schemata that Marx laid out.
There was, however, a fly in the soup.History didn't march to a Marxist drumbeat. This was amptly demonstartrated by Eduard Bernstein in the early years of the 20th century ( see Evolutionary Socialism ). The proletariat was not forced into increasing poverty. So-call "intermediate strata' did not disappear and instead multiplied. The force of monopoly went so far and then settled into a dynamic balanceas new economic opportunities opened up. The Leninist incantations of ìmperialism`failed to explain the fact that the workers found that they could improve their position by both trade union and political ways.The marxist left was left with a theory of price that always failed to either predict or explain the cost that a commodity fetched on the market (free, semi-free or stateized).
In the end there was a business cycle that was more of less controlled (abolished ? ) by state management- both the authoritarian communist and the Keynesian methods. What was left was a society that continued to have periodic crises. Only some of these were classically economic. Others were very much social/political as various underclasses would rebel against their managerial overlords. Of course the eruptions of such rebellion was not wholly predictable, but I seemed to have found a least a crude periodicity of such rebellions in both the so-called capitalist world and in the state socialist world as well. The period was anywhere from 7 to 10 years, and it would often be demonstarted in the state socialist societies not as open rebellion but rather as economic crises, presumably due to somewhat "passive rebellion" on the part of workers and consumers.
Thyere was also the fact that no economic system in history has been pure. The state socialist societies existed only because of an underground capitalist black market that made said societies livable. Feudalism contained elements of both capitalism (the merchants) and managerial rule (many of the monastic orders). Our present society wavers between a managerial system and a capitalist one with the caveat that the decision to adapt prouction and consumption to the rules of the market lies with managers, especially those of the state, the managerial class par excellance.
Next time: Recent rebellions.
PREDICTABLE AND OTHERWISE PART 1:
For many years I have held a rather heretical (in the usual lefty point of view) opinion. I personally believe that we are living in a post capitalist society that is better described as "managerial" rather than "capitalist". This is, of course, a moot point, and I recognize that no society is purely dependent on only one mode of production and exchange. The inclusion of exchange is important to differentiate my point of view from merely another 'historical materialist' point of view, one that is solely focused on prouction and neglects to one degree or another the world of consumption.
I'll leave the justification of this opinion for another time.What is important here is just like an idealized "capitalist" society has its periodic crises somehow connected to "overproduction" so does managerial society has its own cycles.of crisis. The business cycle, of course, never followed the rule book laid out by Marx in Capital . When Marx wrote his magnum opus in the most free trade society in the world at the time of its maximum free trade existence ie its closest approach to an ideal "capitalism" it was at least seeminly possible that history would follow the schemata that Marx laid out.
There was, however, a fly in the soup.History didn't march to a Marxist drumbeat. This was amptly demonstartrated by Eduard Bernstein in the early years of the 20th century ( see Evolutionary Socialism ). The proletariat was not forced into increasing poverty. So-call "intermediate strata' did not disappear and instead multiplied. The force of monopoly went so far and then settled into a dynamic balanceas new economic opportunities opened up. The Leninist incantations of ìmperialism`failed to explain the fact that the workers found that they could improve their position by both trade union and political ways.The marxist left was left with a theory of price that always failed to either predict or explain the cost that a commodity fetched on the market (free, semi-free or stateized).
In the end there was a business cycle that was more of less controlled (abolished ? ) by state management- both the authoritarian communist and the Keynesian methods. What was left was a society that continued to have periodic crises. Only some of these were classically economic. Others were very much social/political as various underclasses would rebel against their managerial overlords. Of course the eruptions of such rebellion was not wholly predictable, but I seemed to have found a least a crude periodicity of such rebellions in both the so-called capitalist world and in the state socialist world as well. The period was anywhere from 7 to 10 years, and it would often be demonstarted in the state socialist societies not as open rebellion but rather as economic crises, presumably due to somewhat "passive rebellion" on the part of workers and consumers.
Thyere was also the fact that no economic system in history has been pure. The state socialist societies existed only because of an underground capitalist black market that made said societies livable. Feudalism contained elements of both capitalism (the merchants) and managerial rule (many of the monastic orders). Our present society wavers between a managerial system and a capitalist one with the caveat that the decision to adapt prouction and consumption to the rules of the market lies with managers, especially those of the state, the managerial class par excellance.
Next time: Recent rebellions.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
AGRICULTURE:
BREAKING THE ANTIBIOTIC ADDICTION:
For many years it has been a common practice to add antibiotics to food animal rations (poultry, pigs and to a lesser extent cattle). The rationale is that said antibiotics, even if they are in too low a concentration to actually treat any disease, act as growth promoters leading to btter and faster slaughter weights. The mechanism whereby they do this is unclear. It may be by suppressing the growth of pathogenic bacteria, by treating subclinical infections or by promoting the growth of mutualistic bacteria.
No matter what the mechanism there is a downside to this common practice ie the promotion of bacteria that are resistant to not just common antibiotics but also to such "last choice" therapeutics as vancomycin or methicillin.This is because these antibiotics are similar to those used as "growth promoters" in animal feed. The sub-optimal concentrations of such additives is almost gauranteed to promote antibiotic resistant bacteria.This connection has been amply demonstrated in the scientific literature of the last decade.
The demonstration of the promotion of resistant bacteria is now a matter of major concern in public health. This means that various jurisdictions are trying to curb this use (misuse ?) of antibiotics or to ban it entirely. The Swedish example of a total ban is instructive. While there was an initial drop in productivity during the 1986 ban on growth promotant antibiotics the deficit in production was soon made up as farmers paid attention to other facters of production such as hygiene, reduction of stress and other management practices such as "all in all out". The present opinion is that antibiotics have no benefit as growth promoters if of producion are optimized. This has been the experience of Sweden.
The latest country that has opted for a total ban is Denmark, and an editorial (page 440) and article (pages465-466) describe how another country, Denmark, is in the process of such a ban. The articles describe how the ban was faciliated in that Danish farmers are almost all members of the Danish Agriculture and Food Council. I do not wish to oveemphasize the role of this body, but it undoubtedly a major factor in the elimination of food additive antibiotics in Denmark.
The actual article in Nature (June 2012, Vol 486,pp 465-466) tells how the ban was implimented, and gives proof of the harm done by sub-therapeutic antibiotics, and it also describes how the argument from production is false . If a person is farming as they should, with proper feed, housing, disease treatment and nutrition then antibiotics add NOTHING to production. In other words if you are a good farmer antibiotics will add nothing to your operation.Do I have to say it again ?
BREAKING THE ANTIBIOTIC ADDICTION:
For many years it has been a common practice to add antibiotics to food animal rations (poultry, pigs and to a lesser extent cattle). The rationale is that said antibiotics, even if they are in too low a concentration to actually treat any disease, act as growth promoters leading to btter and faster slaughter weights. The mechanism whereby they do this is unclear. It may be by suppressing the growth of pathogenic bacteria, by treating subclinical infections or by promoting the growth of mutualistic bacteria.
No matter what the mechanism there is a downside to this common practice ie the promotion of bacteria that are resistant to not just common antibiotics but also to such "last choice" therapeutics as vancomycin or methicillin.This is because these antibiotics are similar to those used as "growth promoters" in animal feed. The sub-optimal concentrations of such additives is almost gauranteed to promote antibiotic resistant bacteria.This connection has been amply demonstrated in the scientific literature of the last decade.
The demonstration of the promotion of resistant bacteria is now a matter of major concern in public health. This means that various jurisdictions are trying to curb this use (misuse ?) of antibiotics or to ban it entirely. The Swedish example of a total ban is instructive. While there was an initial drop in productivity during the 1986 ban on growth promotant antibiotics the deficit in production was soon made up as farmers paid attention to other facters of production such as hygiene, reduction of stress and other management practices such as "all in all out". The present opinion is that antibiotics have no benefit as growth promoters if of producion are optimized. This has been the experience of Sweden.
The latest country that has opted for a total ban is Denmark, and an editorial (page 440) and article (pages465-466) describe how another country, Denmark, is in the process of such a ban. The articles describe how the ban was faciliated in that Danish farmers are almost all members of the Danish Agriculture and Food Council. I do not wish to oveemphasize the role of this body, but it undoubtedly a major factor in the elimination of food additive antibiotics in Denmark.
The actual article in Nature (June 2012, Vol 486,pp 465-466) tells how the ban was implimented, and gives proof of the harm done by sub-therapeutic antibiotics, and it also describes how the argument from production is false . If a person is farming as they should, with proper feed, housing, disease treatment and nutrition then antibiotics add NOTHING to production. In other words if you are a good farmer antibiotics will add nothing to your operation.Do I have to say it again ?
Sunday, July 22, 2012
PERSONAL:
DRIVING AROUND WINNIPEG:
It's a quick trip from the Slav Rebchuk bridge and the missing "People Before Profit" sign to Selkirk Avenue, the main drag of Canada's second poorest neighbourhood. That's Winnipeg for you. This burg can't even be the winner in a competition for bad.
Anyways it's an east turn down Selkirk to Main Street, and the first block shows where the 'People Before Profit' sign may have gone. Yup it's up in BIG LETTERS on the local headquarters of the goddamn Communist Party. Now the commies have been many things in their regretable history, and "thief" is one of the minor insults that could be thrown their way. But there it is in big red letters for all to see.This slogan has also been present for years (decades ?), but it only becomes apparent when the entering North End sign disappears.
I don't know whether to congratulate or laugh at the commies plunking their head office down in thne middle of a decidedly non-proletarian neighbourhood. To say that it has been useless in signing up the lumpen proletariat would be understating the case.Most cemetaries do a far more lively business than these souls nostalgic for the days of Moscow gold. I do a lot of driving back and forth in this city, and the only sign of life that I have ever seen at Commie HQ is that once they cut the grass/weeds in their yard.Never in hundreds of passes have I seen a person enter, leave or merely hang around this particular mausoleum to an idea past its best before date.
Not that I am at all displeased by this. As the subtitle of this series of vignettes says, "may they never rise from the dead". A resurgence of sympathy for organizations involved in the cover-up of the greatest atrocities in history would be the death certificate of any radical opposition.
But then we sail past this monument to an unlamented past, and head out to "Pharmacy Row" on Main Street. Makes you wonder why a neighbourhood with the highest concentration of addicts in the city also has the highest concentration of drug stores.Heading north now, and we leave the dreaded North End behind.
DRIVING AROUND WINNIPEG:
It's a quick trip from the Slav Rebchuk bridge and the missing "People Before Profit" sign to Selkirk Avenue, the main drag of Canada's second poorest neighbourhood. That's Winnipeg for you. This burg can't even be the winner in a competition for bad.
Anyways it's an east turn down Selkirk to Main Street, and the first block shows where the 'People Before Profit' sign may have gone. Yup it's up in BIG LETTERS on the local headquarters of the goddamn Communist Party. Now the commies have been many things in their regretable history, and "thief" is one of the minor insults that could be thrown their way. But there it is in big red letters for all to see.This slogan has also been present for years (decades ?), but it only becomes apparent when the entering North End sign disappears.
I don't know whether to congratulate or laugh at the commies plunking their head office down in thne middle of a decidedly non-proletarian neighbourhood. To say that it has been useless in signing up the lumpen proletariat would be understating the case.Most cemetaries do a far more lively business than these souls nostalgic for the days of Moscow gold. I do a lot of driving back and forth in this city, and the only sign of life that I have ever seen at Commie HQ is that once they cut the grass/weeds in their yard.Never in hundreds of passes have I seen a person enter, leave or merely hang around this particular mausoleum to an idea past its best before date.
Not that I am at all displeased by this. As the subtitle of this series of vignettes says, "may they never rise from the dead". A resurgence of sympathy for organizations involved in the cover-up of the greatest atrocities in history would be the death certificate of any radical opposition.
But then we sail past this monument to an unlamented past, and head out to "Pharmacy Row" on Main Street. Makes you wonder why a neighbourhood with the highest concentration of addicts in the city also has the highest concentration of drug stores.Heading north now, and we leave the dreaded North End behind.
Labels:
Communist Party,
Main Street,
personal,
Selkirk Avenue,
Winnipeg
Monday, July 16, 2012
ENVIRONMENT:
A TASTE OF SHELL GAMES TO COME IN THE ARTIC:Shell Loses Control Of Arctic Drilling Rig In Alaskan Harbor
By Climate Guest Blogger on Jul 16, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Royal Dutch Shell’s preparedness to drill offshore in the harsh and remote Arctic Ocean this summer has been called into question by a series of recent events.
Over the weekend, the company’s drilling rig, the Noble Discoverer, appears to have come dangerously close to running aground near Dutch Harbor, where Shell’s fleet has been assembled. The Noble Discoverer is one of two dozen ships Shell plans to send into some of the most challenging conditions on the planet. According to the US Coast Guard, the vessel slipped anchor and drifted within 100 yards off shore before being pulled back into deeper water by a Shell tugboat.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
The vessel‘s anchor failed to hold and the 514-foot ship began drifting, but its movement was halted when tug boats were called in to assist, Coast Guard spokeswoman Sara Francis told the Los Angeles Times.Although Shell and the Coast Guard asserted there was no evidence of grounding, onlookers — including longshoreman David Howard and Dutch Harbor captain Kristjan Laxfoss — contradicted this account, saying the vessel was not moving and appeared grounded: “There’s no question it hit the beach. That ship was not coming any closer. It was on the beach.”
“We don’t know exactly what happened yet. We do know that the vessel’s anchor didn’t hold, they began to drift, they let out more anchor chain to slow that drift and called for immediate tug assistance,” Francis said.
Petty Officer Sarah Francis said winds of 27-35 miles per hour likely led to the ship drifting — conditions that are benign compared with the hurricane-force gales, 20-foot swells, and dynamic sea ice the Discoverer could encounter off the North Slope where the company plans to drill offshore.
Pete Slaiby, vice president of Shell Oil in Alaska, noted both the Discoverer and Kulluk drilling ships will be secured by an 8-point anchor system when operating in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
The incident immediately follows the Coast Guard’s refusal to certify Shell’s oil spill response barge, the Arctic Challenger, because of concerns about the fire protection system, wiring, and piping on the 37 year-old vessel. The Coast Guard also expressed doubts about the barge’s ability to withstand harsh Arctic storms. The containment barge is essential to the fleet as it is designed to deliver oil spill response equipment to the five drilling sites. Without it, Shell would not have access to the equipment necessary to contain an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to the extreme and unpredictable weather, there is an alarming dearth of infrastructure necessary to mount a large-scale response effort off the North Slope. As detailed in the Center for American Progress report, Putting a Freeze on Arctic Ocean Drilling: America’s Inability to Respond to an Oil Spill in the Arctic, the area lacks roads, railroads, a permanent Coast Guard facility, a major port, or sufficient infrastructure to house and feed a large influx of people. As a result, Shell has said that its oil spill response efforts will be largely self-contained. The fact that the company is experiencing problems with this equipment before even reaching the drill sites raises serious concerns about their contingency plan.
Shell’s flotilla will continue to wait in Dutch Harbor – 1,000 miles south of the proposed drilling sites; the closest major port to the North Slope – while unexpectedly heavy sea ice prevents them from making the voyage to the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
Slaiby, Shell’s VP in Alaska, recently told CNN that the company’s proposed exploration in the Arctic will be the “most complex, most difficult wells we’ve drilled in company history.”
Kiley Kroh is the Associate Director of Ocean Communications at the Center for American Progress.
CANADIAN LABOUR:
WILDCAT STRIKERS DEFY UNION AND COMPANY IN NEWFOUNDLAND:
Up to 1,000 workers have gathered near the road to Vale's Long Harbour construction site in eastern Newfoundland this morning, as a wildcat labour dispute enters day five.
Some employees have turned around, and many have joined in the protest, but there has also been a steady flow of traffic past pickets to the site.
There was a rally-like atmosphere along the sides of the road to Long Harbour on Monday morning. Speakers addressed the crowd, composed mainly of workers who decided not to report to work on the site.
Electrician Kevin Slaney addresses workers gathered near the road to Long Harbour on Monday morning. (Adam Walsh/CBC)Portable toilets were erected at the location. Microphones have been set up for speakers to address the crowd. Some picketers were playing the guitar.
The Long Harbour site generally has up to 2,000 employees a day working on it.
According to the security guard at the gate, some people are working, but there is no count available as of yet.
The illegal strike was triggered by about 100 crane operators last Thursday. Those now gathered near the Long Harbour road represent a number of unions.
Vale was granted a court injunction last week preventing workers from blocking the road to the site.
On Sunday, the umbrella organization representing all 16 trade unions at the Vale site urged wildcat strikers go back to work.
Gus Doyle, president of the Resource Development Trades Council, said the unions do not support the illegal strike.
"We have a collective agreement in place — they want the collective agreement to be opened up and changed, and that's not in the cards,” Doyle said Sunday.
Long Harbour"I’ll just use my own kids as an example," he said. "I mean, a child will ask you something and they have an answer in mind, and if you don't give it to them, then you're wrong, and that's the case here today."
Doyle insisted that Long Harbour would be open for business Monday.
But workers have continued to express dissatisfaction with the company and their union representation.
In an address to workers near the site Monday morning, electrician Kevin Slaney called for Doyle to resign.
Workers are upset with wages and how the company is interpreting the collective agreement on issues such as travel and living allowances.
French says he cannot pick sides, but he's asked the the provincial justice department to review what action the government could take.
The construction site is covered by a special work order, and under that legislation, strikes or lockouts are prohibited.
Some employees have turned around, and many have joined in the protest, but there has also been a steady flow of traffic past pickets to the site.
There was a rally-like atmosphere along the sides of the road to Long Harbour on Monday morning. Speakers addressed the crowd, composed mainly of workers who decided not to report to work on the site.
Electrician Kevin Slaney addresses workers gathered near the road to Long Harbour on Monday morning. (Adam Walsh/CBC)Portable toilets were erected at the location. Microphones have been set up for speakers to address the crowd. Some picketers were playing the guitar.
The Long Harbour site generally has up to 2,000 employees a day working on it.
According to the security guard at the gate, some people are working, but there is no count available as of yet.
The illegal strike was triggered by about 100 crane operators last Thursday. Those now gathered near the Long Harbour road represent a number of unions.
Vale was granted a court injunction last week preventing workers from blocking the road to the site.
On Sunday, the umbrella organization representing all 16 trade unions at the Vale site urged wildcat strikers go back to work.
Gus Doyle, president of the Resource Development Trades Council, said the unions do not support the illegal strike.
"We have a collective agreement in place — they want the collective agreement to be opened up and changed, and that's not in the cards,” Doyle said Sunday.
Long Harbour"I’ll just use my own kids as an example," he said. "I mean, a child will ask you something and they have an answer in mind, and if you don't give it to them, then you're wrong, and that's the case here today."
Doyle insisted that Long Harbour would be open for business Monday.
But workers have continued to express dissatisfaction with the company and their union representation.
In an address to workers near the site Monday morning, electrician Kevin Slaney called for Doyle to resign.
Workers are upset with wages and how the company is interpreting the collective agreement on issues such as travel and living allowances.
Province looking at options
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Terry French says he's very disappointed that many workers at the Vale construction site in Long Harbour continue to stay off the job.French says he cannot pick sides, but he's asked the the provincial justice department to review what action the government could take.
The construction site is covered by a special work order, and under that legislation, strikes or lockouts are prohibited.
The $3.6-billion Long Harbour plant will process nickel concentrate extracted from the Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador. It's scheduled to open in 2013.
Labels:
Canadian labour,
labour,
Newfoundland,
strike,
Vale.,
wildcat strike
Sunday, July 15, 2012
ANARCHIST LITERATURE:
NEW BOOK FROM ARTHUR J. MILLER:
Good old A.J.. Here's a collection of his working class writings in book form. Always relevant over the decades. Here's the plug...
FW Arthur J. Millerhas a new book entitled 'Upon The Backs Of Labour';essays from a working class writer that help organize, agitate and emancipate our Fellow Workers.
Copies available through Tacoma IWW for $15.00 USD plus &1.50 for shipping for a total of $16.50 (What about Canada ?-Molly)Please send cheques or money orders to Tacoma IWW c/o McNair, 3702 Hund St. NW #17, Gig Harbor, WA 9835-8202.
The Tacoma GMB is beginning an effort atn publishing IWW books, pamphlets, leaflets and blasts for sale to help build a working people's library and research center in the Pacific Northwest. We have available original Wobbly FWs McLean and Gilbert Mews, a Wobbvly writer from a few dfecades ago.
Help us get our library launched so that workers can read about our struggle.
NEW BOOK FROM ARTHUR J. MILLER:
Good old A.J.. Here's a collection of his working class writings in book form. Always relevant over the decades. Here's the plug...
FW Arthur J. Millerhas a new book entitled 'Upon The Backs Of Labour';essays from a working class writer that help organize, agitate and emancipate our Fellow Workers.
Copies available through Tacoma IWW for $15.00 USD plus &1.50 for shipping for a total of $16.50 (What about Canada ?-Molly)Please send cheques or money orders to Tacoma IWW c/o McNair, 3702 Hund St. NW #17, Gig Harbor, WA 9835-8202.
The Tacoma GMB is beginning an effort atn publishing IWW books, pamphlets, leaflets and blasts for sale to help build a working people's library and research center in the Pacific Northwest. We have available original Wobbly FWs McLean and Gilbert Mews, a Wobbvly writer from a few dfecades ago.
Help us get our library launched so that workers can read about our struggle.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
DRIVING AROUND WINNIPEG:
PERCEPTUAL EXPECTANCY
As you drove over the Slaw Rebchuk bridge from downtown Winnipeg to the North End you were greeted for years by the "Welcome To The North End: People Before Profit" sign on the roof of the Nippon Auto building at the north foot of the bridge. For years this somewhat incongrous sign on the roof of an auto body shop (whose owners must certainly be quite concerned about profit) set the tone for the neighbourhood where so much of Winnipeg's radical history came to pass. Nobody seemed to know how long it had been there. In my own memory for many years.
Nobody knows how it came to be placed on the roof, though last November when the "People Before Profit" part was eliminated the owners of Nippon Motors claimed that this tag-on had been painted by vandals. On a dark and non-stormy night I presume. The official explanation was that the slogan was removed in the process of re-roofing the business.Some how I don't think so, but the intent was plain whether done by itself or in the process of putting on a new roof. Gotta bump that anti-capitalist slogan after all, though I would be utterly amazed to hear that the literary gem on the rooftop lost Nippon Motors a single cent of business.
Here we are however. The slogan disappears in November. Through the next few hundred times I drive north over the bridge I fail to notice anything amiss. In other words my brain was registering the whole two phrases while only one was still on the roof. This is an amazingly persistant illusion.
Finally one day in February my fact checker must have been on as I headed up into the North End. "What The Hell ?". The "People Before Profit" part is missing. Where the hell did it go ? Having done roofing in my youth I was fairly certain few people would be insane enough to be up on a roof in Winnipeg in February. Which leaves me with the question of when exactly was the "ideological rectification" done.
All that being said, however, the case of Nippon Motors' roof came up again when a few weeks ago Winnipeg Free Press columnist Colleen Simard wrote a piece implying that the offending phrase was still up. This really threw me into a tailspin. Had it really been put back up? Nope. The 'socialist-speak' was as absent as ever. For all I know Simard still is seeing the illusionary "People Before Profit" every time she heads north on Salter. Just like I did for months.
What this is called is "visual expectancy". This functions as both addition and subtraction. Details that are no longer present i a situation, image, etc. have their blanks filled in by a brain attuned to the "grand picture". This is addition. The most famous instance of subtraction is the inability of many subjects in one experiment to see a gorilla in the background of images whose foreground is a major item of interest.
Fill it in or erase it. The brain can do both. Both abilities for illusion actually have survival value, and it is little wonder that they have been selected for over millions of years of evolution. I wonder if other animals have the same capacity for illusion. I also wonder if there are any people or anyone in an "altered state" who has to suffer the full impact of being unable to filter out the irrelevant and add the missing details. If there are I feel sorry for them.
PERCEPTUAL EXPECTANCY
As you drove over the Slaw Rebchuk bridge from downtown Winnipeg to the North End you were greeted for years by the "Welcome To The North End: People Before Profit" sign on the roof of the Nippon Auto building at the north foot of the bridge. For years this somewhat incongrous sign on the roof of an auto body shop (whose owners must certainly be quite concerned about profit) set the tone for the neighbourhood where so much of Winnipeg's radical history came to pass. Nobody seemed to know how long it had been there. In my own memory for many years.
Nobody knows how it came to be placed on the roof, though last November when the "People Before Profit" part was eliminated the owners of Nippon Motors claimed that this tag-on had been painted by vandals. On a dark and non-stormy night I presume. The official explanation was that the slogan was removed in the process of re-roofing the business.Some how I don't think so, but the intent was plain whether done by itself or in the process of putting on a new roof. Gotta bump that anti-capitalist slogan after all, though I would be utterly amazed to hear that the literary gem on the rooftop lost Nippon Motors a single cent of business.
Here we are however. The slogan disappears in November. Through the next few hundred times I drive north over the bridge I fail to notice anything amiss. In other words my brain was registering the whole two phrases while only one was still on the roof. This is an amazingly persistant illusion.
Finally one day in February my fact checker must have been on as I headed up into the North End. "What The Hell ?". The "People Before Profit" part is missing. Where the hell did it go ? Having done roofing in my youth I was fairly certain few people would be insane enough to be up on a roof in Winnipeg in February. Which leaves me with the question of when exactly was the "ideological rectification" done.
All that being said, however, the case of Nippon Motors' roof came up again when a few weeks ago Winnipeg Free Press columnist Colleen Simard wrote a piece implying that the offending phrase was still up. This really threw me into a tailspin. Had it really been put back up? Nope. The 'socialist-speak' was as absent as ever. For all I know Simard still is seeing the illusionary "People Before Profit" every time she heads north on Salter. Just like I did for months.
What this is called is "visual expectancy". This functions as both addition and subtraction. Details that are no longer present i a situation, image, etc. have their blanks filled in by a brain attuned to the "grand picture". This is addition. The most famous instance of subtraction is the inability of many subjects in one experiment to see a gorilla in the background of images whose foreground is a major item of interest.
Fill it in or erase it. The brain can do both. Both abilities for illusion actually have survival value, and it is little wonder that they have been selected for over millions of years of evolution. I wonder if other animals have the same capacity for illusion. I also wonder if there are any people or anyone in an "altered state" who has to suffer the full impact of being unable to filter out the irrelevant and add the missing details. If there are I feel sorry for them.
Labels:
Nippon Motors,
North End,
personal,
psychology.,
slogans,
Winnipeg
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
MOLLY'S BACK !!
Well, it's been a long drought here in Mollyland, but I'd like to announce my return the world of blogger. I'm still active in reporting up to date news over at my Facebook account, but it's about time I added a little more personal comment. This blog will be the outlet for same. Let's see what develops.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE VICTORIA ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:
Fall rolls around once more, and, as the leaves are turning colour the colourful Victoria Anarchist Bookfair will be blowing into town out there on the west coast. Here's the details:
THE VICTORIA ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:
Fall rolls around once more, and, as the leaves are turning colour the colourful Victoria Anarchist Bookfair will be blowing into town out there on the west coast. Here's the details:
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Saturday, May 26, 2012
DRIVIN' AROUND WINNIPEG:
I HOPE THEY NEVER COME BACK TO LIFE PART TWO:
It's over the Slaw Rebchuk bridge travelling north I go, a bridge named after a socialist by a government that is the furthest from such views as may be possible. Come over Slaw Rebchuk travelling north, and the first thing you see (more or less) is the roof of Nepon Motors. The roof proclaiming "Welcome To The North End".Nice and welcoming I may say, but since last Fall the roof has been missing its decades' long coda: "People Before Profit". The Winnipeg Free Press has conducted a poll, and 60% of respondants want the coda restored. The response of the management of Nepon Motors has been rather confused. On the one hand they claim that the decades long. "People Before Profit" sign on their roof was the work of "vandals" On the second hand they promise to restore in after driving this route for over 25 years all that I can say is that, if it would be vandalism, that it took more than a quarter century to recognize it as such. Sounds like new (idiotic) management to me, abandoning a great customer draw May the results be on the bosses' heads..
I HOPE THEY NEVER COME BACK TO LIFE PART TWO:
It's over the Slaw Rebchuk bridge travelling north I go, a bridge named after a socialist by a government that is the furthest from such views as may be possible. Come over Slaw Rebchuk travelling north, and the first thing you see (more or less) is the roof of Nepon Motors. The roof proclaiming "Welcome To The North End".Nice and welcoming I may say, but since last Fall the roof has been missing its decades' long coda: "People Before Profit". The Winnipeg Free Press has conducted a poll, and 60% of respondants want the coda restored. The response of the management of Nepon Motors has been rather confused. On the one hand they claim that the decades long. "People Before Profit" sign on their roof was the work of "vandals" On the second hand they promise to restore in after driving this route for over 25 years all that I can say is that, if it would be vandalism, that it took more than a quarter century to recognize it as such. Sounds like new (idiotic) management to me, abandoning a great customer draw May the results be on the bosses' heads..
DRIVIN' ROUND WINNIPEG:
I HOPE THEY NEVER COME BACK TO LIFE:
A lot of my work days are consumed with driving across Winnipeg. After 28 years of doing this job I think that I know more about the City than the average cab driver. Interesting stuff some times. Today I had another attempted car jacking when a perp attempted to open the passenger side door. Locked, ha ha ! Perp travels to the drivers side and tries to beg money. The perp responded to the proper English of "NO, go the fuck away" without any graphic details about how I would carve up their intestines. Bye bye. OK, I was sitting in a convenience store parking lot at Arlington and Selkirk reading the local newspaper trash, the Winnipeg Sun, and eating junk food---almost an invitation to street demons. Still I got to admire the common sense of the demon. Quite unlike one demon who attempted to open the driver's door when I was parked at Notre Dame and Arlington many years ago. Once againb the door was locked, but it DID open as I slammed the fucker as hard as I could with the door. OUCH !!!Which all goes to show- exercise caution no matter what you are doing.
I HOPE THEY NEVER COME BACK TO LIFE:
A lot of my work days are consumed with driving across Winnipeg. After 28 years of doing this job I think that I know more about the City than the average cab driver. Interesting stuff some times. Today I had another attempted car jacking when a perp attempted to open the passenger side door. Locked, ha ha ! Perp travels to the drivers side and tries to beg money. The perp responded to the proper English of "NO, go the fuck away" without any graphic details about how I would carve up their intestines. Bye bye. OK, I was sitting in a convenience store parking lot at Arlington and Selkirk reading the local newspaper trash, the Winnipeg Sun, and eating junk food---almost an invitation to street demons. Still I got to admire the common sense of the demon. Quite unlike one demon who attempted to open the driver's door when I was parked at Notre Dame and Arlington many years ago. Once againb the door was locked, but it DID open as I slammed the fucker as hard as I could with the door. OUCH !!!Which all goes to show- exercise caution no matter what you are doing.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
CANADIAN LABOUR:
RIO TINTO OFF THE PODIUM:
Over in London England the international mining company Rio Tinto has been awarded the position of the metals necessary to make the award medals. Yet back here in Canada workers at Rio Tinto's aluminum smelter in Alma Québec have been locked out for months. Rio Tinto wants to replace union members with unorganized temporary workers who are to be paid 50% less and will have no pension. The 780 locked out workers have been on the picket line for far too long.
The United Steel Workers Canada and the labour solidarity site Labour Start have initiated a compaign to demand that the International Olympic Committee drop Rio Tinto as being incompatible with Olympic ideals. The IOC will be meeting in Canada next week. Please go to this link to sign the petition to the IOC.
RIO TINTO OFF THE PODIUM:
Over in London England the international mining company Rio Tinto has been awarded the position of the metals necessary to make the award medals. Yet back here in Canada workers at Rio Tinto's aluminum smelter in Alma Québec have been locked out for months. Rio Tinto wants to replace union members with unorganized temporary workers who are to be paid 50% less and will have no pension. The 780 locked out workers have been on the picket line for far too long.
The United Steel Workers Canada and the labour solidarity site Labour Start have initiated a compaign to demand that the International Olympic Committee drop Rio Tinto as being incompatible with Olympic ideals. The IOC will be meeting in Canada next week. Please go to this link to sign the petition to the IOC.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
ANARCHIST THEORY:
BUT WILL THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME ?
The short answer is "yes". In fact, given the lower "neighbourhood costs" of rail versus road traffic they will run even more frequently.This article is the first of what I hope will be a series on how things might be organized in an anarchist society. What follows is not some sort of program that is closed to change and learning from experience. It is merely musing and a demonstration that things can be organized quite diffrently than they way that they are.
To begin with...what is a railroad.? It is an enterprise with fixed capital consisting of lines, rolling stock and facilities. It is also, however, a social enterprise wherein people cooperate in the doing of useful work. In other words it is a social system. Today it is assumed that a seperate caste of "managers" is necessaryfor the smooth functioning of this network. The idea that centralized control is "necessary" runs up against the reality that there are many different rail companies, all of which have agreed without central direction to use the lines cooperatively in many cases.
Such cooperation is a mere shadow of the .cooperation that would be required to run the rails in a lbertarian fashion. It does, howevev show that such a thing is possible.In actual fact the role of management is quite minimal in the day to day operation of a railroad. To a large extent they are merely the "harassment team" whose goal is supposedly the direction of a system that basically runs itself by routine.
All that is quite fine you may say, but what sort of structure could substitute for what little use management actually has ? Delving back in anarchist history we submit the union structure of the Spanish CNT as proof, a strucure that during the first years of the Spanish Civil War actually worked and, in fact increased production and efficiency in many enterprises.The CNT had a basic dual unionism. On the one hand it favoured "industrial unions" that would represent all of the workers in a certain workplace and, beyond that, in the whole of an industry. This was balanced by the "geographic union" of all workers in a given community. This structure was not only useful for the day to day fight against the bosses. It also was capable of running production on its own in the abscence of said bosses.
What would a modern equivalent look like ? Well one thing is for sure. It would involve a lot of bargaining. The difference between this self management and the present managerial system would be that workers organized in a libertarian fashion would have every incentive to improve the overall functioning of the enterprise, as opposed to the present adversarial system of workers versus management. There would remain only the "personal" conflicts present in all human groups. There would not be a zero sum game as it is today where the gain of one is the automatic loss of the other.
What would be the best way to organize so that the libertarian way ends up better than our own class based system ? Some might say that the traditional industrial/geograpic organization of the CNT is totally sufficient. Here in North America the most popular concept is the traditional IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) model whereby industrial unionism is sufficient in itself. Personaslly I favour a triad of organization: industrial/craft and geographic. I think that the geographic locals are the best body to make final decisions about such things as investment, compensation, etc. and to negotiate with other organizations in a libertarian society.
I see the need for craft organization in order to identify specific "small" problems. The safety of a system is very much dpendant on the individual identification of problems by certain occupations. Improvements to a system are likewise most likely first noticed and put forward by the "specialists" in a given activity. Once a problem is identified it would first be presented to either the trade association or to the geographical union. Unless the problem was one that is necessarily wide in geographic scale there would hardly be any need to involve the larger industrial union at this point. The industrial union would, however, be able to consult to see if the problem was widespread, and it would make suggestions to other geographic or trade unions based on the one union's presentation.
The industrial union, along with the parallel geographic general assembly of workers on the railroad would have to be involved if the correction of a situation required resources that would be held by either the local assembly or the industrial union. Sometimes the resources needed would be beyond those of either the local assembly(s) or even the industrial union. In this case it would require the assistance of larger federations of local citizens' groups. Depending upon the size of such organis of local democracy there would be either informal ties with cross membership of the workers and the citizens' assembly or more formal cross representation. This, of course, would also depend upon the occupational strucure of the organs of neighbourhood self management.
In any case there would have to be bargaining involved amongst the various groups as to the best way to use available resources. This would be utterly different from the present labour/management bargaining for the simple reason that it would not be a zero sum game. There would be not be a situation where the gain of one was the loss of the other. This bargaining would be carried on amongst people looking for a cooperative solution that would benefit all. Not that there wouldn't be disagreements. Far from it. Neither would there cease to be self interest and the conflicts that arise from such. It is quite likely that people in one town would feel that resources should be used in completely different ways.
That's all well and fine you may say, but how would the railway workers "earn a living" ? Vewry pointed question ! The traditional anarchocommunist view is that "social solidarity" would be strong enough in a stateless society so that one could depend on the "good will" (enforced by social pressure such a shaming) of members of society to volunteer their work in exchange for free access to community goods. Whjatever they may be...food, housing, recreation, health services, etc..
Myself I am a little more doubtful. Maybe the anarchocommunist vision is viable, but I for one worry that there will be too many "freeloaders" in the abscence of punishment. Dependence on "social shaming" for such punishment would assume a rather particularist community to a degree that I would find unacceptable.Not that anarchism doesn't involve a recreation of community, but should such community be inward looking and omnipotent ? I personally don't think so. This tension between community and individual initiative has been simulataneously discussed and ignored in the anarchist tradition (depending on who you read). It is the central point in Ursula LeGuin's. 'The Dispossed'.
On the other hands there are those such as the American individualists/mutualists/left libertarians who believe that all (or the vast majority) of economic transactions should be governed by a "free market". I will not go deeply into their beliefs here except to note that they run up against multiple examples of "natural monopoly" such as the railroads discussed in this post.
Personally I am wary of "absolute solutions". In the world of the ecomomy I think it is best to hold to a pluralism of systems or, putting it another way, a "mixed economy". In an anarchist society all of the present "socialized" ie free and "communistic" services and goods would remain free. In addition I think that other matters available only in the market economy should also become free ie "communistic". There is, however, a big gap between saying that the essentials of life should be free and available to all and saying that each person can take what he wants from common stores. Everybody should have shelter and beyond "shelter" a home. Yet the demand for mansions cannot be accomodated by any foreseeable society. This is even including the general realization that they are an infinite amount of work in the abscence of paid labour.
Similarily everyone in a society should have the right to season appropriate footware. This doesn't mean, however, that each and any demand for unique shoes such as green elf slippers with bells or the felt lined winter version of same should be a matter of "ask and get". Personally I think there should be a subsidiary market economy where such "luxuries" could be purchased in units of whatever "alternate currency" that might replace the present currency of states.Who knows what these alternative curriencies might be ? They may be "labour certificates" issued by the syndicates. They might be "local currency" of the community. They might be credit union backed transferable (from place to place and industry to industry) funds. The important thing is that they would not be open for monetary speculation.
So back to the railways and their everyday operation in the abscence of management. The first thing to note is that the railway workers would have equal access to any and all free services provided by the local community. Doubtless, however, this would not satisfy the railway workers' sense of justice. However they might like to pay themselves (equally, by family size, by difficulty of job, by seniority and so on) should be their choice alone. I'd suggest that a credit union of each railway centre organizeed in a federation of credit unions would be the best way for railway workers to approach negotiations with the wider community about the worth of their labour and the subsequent compensation. I can see the credit unions engaging in almost endless negotiations to not only determine what "luxuries" railway workers are entitles to locally but also how to make such credits transferable from locality to locality. Movement and vacations should, after all, continue to exist.
Summing up it can be seen that a viable anarchist society at least in the case of this one public aminity is the furthest thing from the "chaos" that anarchism is often described as, and which is too often imitated and praised by fringe elements in anarchism. An anarchist society is actually a far more organized society than they we "enjoy" now. Yes, it would require more time devoted to decision making than is presently the case for most (all ?) workers, but one might hope that this would be balanced by a decrease in "busy work" mandated by management and compensated by the feeling of "real power" and meaning of advancing ones' own interest under self management.
God knows there is more than enough of specifics I have left out of this post. I am not wedded to the exact schemata presented here. The wisdom of crowds after all.... No doubt an anarchist society would be different in many points than what I have sketched above. I would hope that others might find organizational forms that were more democratic, more efficient and more productive of humam liberty.My whole pont, however, is that "YES" the trains will run on time under anarchism. The way they will be organized will be far different from today, but each change will be an improvement on the present situation.
BUT WILL THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME ?
The short answer is "yes". In fact, given the lower "neighbourhood costs" of rail versus road traffic they will run even more frequently.This article is the first of what I hope will be a series on how things might be organized in an anarchist society. What follows is not some sort of program that is closed to change and learning from experience. It is merely musing and a demonstration that things can be organized quite diffrently than they way that they are.
To begin with...what is a railroad.? It is an enterprise with fixed capital consisting of lines, rolling stock and facilities. It is also, however, a social enterprise wherein people cooperate in the doing of useful work. In other words it is a social system. Today it is assumed that a seperate caste of "managers" is necessaryfor the smooth functioning of this network. The idea that centralized control is "necessary" runs up against the reality that there are many different rail companies, all of which have agreed without central direction to use the lines cooperatively in many cases.
Such cooperation is a mere shadow of the .cooperation that would be required to run the rails in a lbertarian fashion. It does, howevev show that such a thing is possible.In actual fact the role of management is quite minimal in the day to day operation of a railroad. To a large extent they are merely the "harassment team" whose goal is supposedly the direction of a system that basically runs itself by routine.
All that is quite fine you may say, but what sort of structure could substitute for what little use management actually has ? Delving back in anarchist history we submit the union structure of the Spanish CNT as proof, a strucure that during the first years of the Spanish Civil War actually worked and, in fact increased production and efficiency in many enterprises.The CNT had a basic dual unionism. On the one hand it favoured "industrial unions" that would represent all of the workers in a certain workplace and, beyond that, in the whole of an industry. This was balanced by the "geographic union" of all workers in a given community. This structure was not only useful for the day to day fight against the bosses. It also was capable of running production on its own in the abscence of said bosses.
What would a modern equivalent look like ? Well one thing is for sure. It would involve a lot of bargaining. The difference between this self management and the present managerial system would be that workers organized in a libertarian fashion would have every incentive to improve the overall functioning of the enterprise, as opposed to the present adversarial system of workers versus management. There would remain only the "personal" conflicts present in all human groups. There would not be a zero sum game as it is today where the gain of one is the automatic loss of the other.
What would be the best way to organize so that the libertarian way ends up better than our own class based system ? Some might say that the traditional industrial/geograpic organization of the CNT is totally sufficient. Here in North America the most popular concept is the traditional IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) model whereby industrial unionism is sufficient in itself. Personaslly I favour a triad of organization: industrial/craft and geographic. I think that the geographic locals are the best body to make final decisions about such things as investment, compensation, etc. and to negotiate with other organizations in a libertarian society.
I see the need for craft organization in order to identify specific "small" problems. The safety of a system is very much dpendant on the individual identification of problems by certain occupations. Improvements to a system are likewise most likely first noticed and put forward by the "specialists" in a given activity. Once a problem is identified it would first be presented to either the trade association or to the geographical union. Unless the problem was one that is necessarily wide in geographic scale there would hardly be any need to involve the larger industrial union at this point. The industrial union would, however, be able to consult to see if the problem was widespread, and it would make suggestions to other geographic or trade unions based on the one union's presentation.
The industrial union, along with the parallel geographic general assembly of workers on the railroad would have to be involved if the correction of a situation required resources that would be held by either the local assembly or the industrial union. Sometimes the resources needed would be beyond those of either the local assembly(s) or even the industrial union. In this case it would require the assistance of larger federations of local citizens' groups. Depending upon the size of such organis of local democracy there would be either informal ties with cross membership of the workers and the citizens' assembly or more formal cross representation. This, of course, would also depend upon the occupational strucure of the organs of neighbourhood self management.
In any case there would have to be bargaining involved amongst the various groups as to the best way to use available resources. This would be utterly different from the present labour/management bargaining for the simple reason that it would not be a zero sum game. There would be not be a situation where the gain of one was the loss of the other. This bargaining would be carried on amongst people looking for a cooperative solution that would benefit all. Not that there wouldn't be disagreements. Far from it. Neither would there cease to be self interest and the conflicts that arise from such. It is quite likely that people in one town would feel that resources should be used in completely different ways.
That's all well and fine you may say, but how would the railway workers "earn a living" ? Vewry pointed question ! The traditional anarchocommunist view is that "social solidarity" would be strong enough in a stateless society so that one could depend on the "good will" (enforced by social pressure such a shaming) of members of society to volunteer their work in exchange for free access to community goods. Whjatever they may be...food, housing, recreation, health services, etc..
Myself I am a little more doubtful. Maybe the anarchocommunist vision is viable, but I for one worry that there will be too many "freeloaders" in the abscence of punishment. Dependence on "social shaming" for such punishment would assume a rather particularist community to a degree that I would find unacceptable.Not that anarchism doesn't involve a recreation of community, but should such community be inward looking and omnipotent ? I personally don't think so. This tension between community and individual initiative has been simulataneously discussed and ignored in the anarchist tradition (depending on who you read). It is the central point in Ursula LeGuin's. 'The Dispossed'.
On the other hands there are those such as the American individualists/mutualists/left libertarians who believe that all (or the vast majority) of economic transactions should be governed by a "free market". I will not go deeply into their beliefs here except to note that they run up against multiple examples of "natural monopoly" such as the railroads discussed in this post.
Personally I am wary of "absolute solutions". In the world of the ecomomy I think it is best to hold to a pluralism of systems or, putting it another way, a "mixed economy". In an anarchist society all of the present "socialized" ie free and "communistic" services and goods would remain free. In addition I think that other matters available only in the market economy should also become free ie "communistic". There is, however, a big gap between saying that the essentials of life should be free and available to all and saying that each person can take what he wants from common stores. Everybody should have shelter and beyond "shelter" a home. Yet the demand for mansions cannot be accomodated by any foreseeable society. This is even including the general realization that they are an infinite amount of work in the abscence of paid labour.
Similarily everyone in a society should have the right to season appropriate footware. This doesn't mean, however, that each and any demand for unique shoes such as green elf slippers with bells or the felt lined winter version of same should be a matter of "ask and get". Personally I think there should be a subsidiary market economy where such "luxuries" could be purchased in units of whatever "alternate currency" that might replace the present currency of states.Who knows what these alternative curriencies might be ? They may be "labour certificates" issued by the syndicates. They might be "local currency" of the community. They might be credit union backed transferable (from place to place and industry to industry) funds. The important thing is that they would not be open for monetary speculation.
So back to the railways and their everyday operation in the abscence of management. The first thing to note is that the railway workers would have equal access to any and all free services provided by the local community. Doubtless, however, this would not satisfy the railway workers' sense of justice. However they might like to pay themselves (equally, by family size, by difficulty of job, by seniority and so on) should be their choice alone. I'd suggest that a credit union of each railway centre organizeed in a federation of credit unions would be the best way for railway workers to approach negotiations with the wider community about the worth of their labour and the subsequent compensation. I can see the credit unions engaging in almost endless negotiations to not only determine what "luxuries" railway workers are entitles to locally but also how to make such credits transferable from locality to locality. Movement and vacations should, after all, continue to exist.
Summing up it can be seen that a viable anarchist society at least in the case of this one public aminity is the furthest thing from the "chaos" that anarchism is often described as, and which is too often imitated and praised by fringe elements in anarchism. An anarchist society is actually a far more organized society than they we "enjoy" now. Yes, it would require more time devoted to decision making than is presently the case for most (all ?) workers, but one might hope that this would be balanced by a decrease in "busy work" mandated by management and compensated by the feeling of "real power" and meaning of advancing ones' own interest under self management.
God knows there is more than enough of specifics I have left out of this post. I am not wedded to the exact schemata presented here. The wisdom of crowds after all.... No doubt an anarchist society would be different in many points than what I have sketched above. I would hope that others might find organizational forms that were more democratic, more efficient and more productive of humam liberty.My whole pont, however, is that "YES" the trains will run on time under anarchism. The way they will be organized will be far different from today, but each change will be an improvement on the present situation.
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