The Socialist Party of Great Britain is a small organisation which repudiates the gradualism and reformism commonly associated with the term ‘socialist.’ It declares itself ‘determined to wage war against all other political parties,’ but there is one political movement which is not a party and cannot become one. How does the Socialist Party relate… read more »
Ideological Commentary has faults, one of them being an excess of loving-kindness toward the Socialist Party of Great Britain (see Part Three). But it also has one virtue: it lives up to its name. IC consists entirely of commentary, more or less direct, on ideological behaviour, and it accepts the reality of its subject-matter. There… read more »
In May 1984 there was issued A Challenge to the Socialist Party of Great Britain. (If you haven’t had a copy, let IC know). It is presented as the opening statement in a proposed written debate on the issue: WILL THE WORKING CLASS SUPPORT THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN? Copies were sent to all… read more »
Members of the Socialist Party sometimes complain that the issues with which IC is primarily concerned are not fundamental. Economic issues, they claim, are basic, other things secondary. So let us look at their economics. They claim the workers are exploited, and that therefore it would be to their benefit to rise in revolution, abolish… read more »
The Socialist Party of Great Britain possesses an Object and Declaration of Principles, and is so proud of them, and so unreserved in its commitment to them, that it includes them in every printed item it issues. There is more in them than readily meets the eye; we have been studying them, on and off,… read more »
Each age has its myths, and the Marxist myth of the revolutionary working class has overshadowed the political thinking of the industrial era. The heroic figure in overalls, erect upon the barricade, sledge-hammer in one hand, red flag in the other, has enlivened the fantasies of the left and haunted the nightmares of the right…. read more »
Enthusiasts commonly claim to find support in the work of people who wrote with other intentions, and there is no good reason why IC should not join in the rush. Dictatorship over Needs, published in 1983, is written by Ferenc Feher, Agnes Heller and Gyorgy Markus, and published by Basil Blackwell, Oxford. It is an… read more »
A Plea for Help Why is it becoming increasingly common for left-wing organisations to offer privileges to capitalists? The Secular Socialist Association announces subscriptions as £2 for organisations, £1 for the waged and 50p for the unwaged. To offer capitalists a cheaper rate because they don’t get wages seems strange; after all, they do get… read more »
PART ONE It is seldom easy for the two parties to any serious discussion to speak directly to each other’s arguments, and when they are adherents of different major ideologies the difficulty is increased. They often find they are talking past each other; each feels the other is failing to meet his points and is… read more »
New readers of IC are often puzzled by the amount of attention devoted to the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Many have never heard of it before, some may confuse it with the Labour Party, and those acquainted with it know it to be little more than a coterie, a group of some five or… read more »