Whether there are any free men or free women may be debatable, but there are certainly two Friedman. David the son wrote “The Machinery of Freedom” and Milton the father wrote (among other works) Capitalism and Freedom (Phoenix Books, University of Chicago Press, 1963). Milton Friedman’s theories have been said to be the inspiration for… read more »
The party pamphlet Questions of the Day (1978) tells us that “in Britain about 90 per cent of the adult population are workers, retired workers or the dependants of workers” (p. 5). That amounts to something over forty million people. The same pamphlet says capitalism “can never be made to work in the interests of… read more »
TENDER IS THE… A new treatment for pain in the lower back entails an injection of meat tenderiser into the affected area. If we had been treated like that we’d keep a wary eye out for anyone coming near with a carving knife – or a knife and fork, for that matter. SUPPORT FOR JARGON… read more »
The communist parties work in the belief that if they could only gain power they could establish a society which, if not fully communist, would be nearer to that condition than is existing society. Given power they would, they believe, be able to lead, drive, educate or manipulate the general body of the people into… read more »
The concept of anarchy, a society without government (one correspondent has used “nonarchy,” which we had not met before), provokes speculation about its contrary, a society using every form of government. What could such a system be called – omarchy? The concept comes complete with difficulties, not least among them the relations between the different… read more »
A problem facing systematic ideology (our opponents of the [anarcho-] Socialist Party tend to be less aware that it is a problem facing them too) is whether it is possible to demonstrate the existence of a world “out there.” If it can be shown that there is, as there seems to be, a world independent… read more »
One of the minor strengths of systematic ideology is its ability to account for features of social behaviour which at first sight appear trivial, by linking them with broader themes. One such feature appears in the distinction between quality of life and standard of living. “Standard of living” is what governments and economists talk about…. read more »
The market seems to have been with us as long as good have been produced, and much of the dissension in society has centred around it. Rulers, invaders and others have often interfered with the market and in times of shortage limitations have been applied; price restrictions, the appropriation of merchants’ supplies, sometimes rationing, but… read more »
IC 12, 13, 14 and the Challenge have had a good deal to say about the “Socialist” (more accurately, anarcho-socialist) Party of Great Britain. We expect to have more to say about it in the future but the material now on the table enables us to show the reason for our interest. As far as… read more »
The Socialist Standard for August 1984 says: The working class […] run society from top to bottom. The same journal for October 1984 says, of the proposition that ‘the exploited control their own exploitation’ that it ‘defied logic.’ But if the workers run society from top to bottom then they must control their own exploitation,… read more »