Rant unto the joy fantastic

Capitalism manages to perform frequent, infuriating cultural inversions. Remember when to reform meant to make something better? Now it means to make something worse, scarce, nasty and so on. One word, representing a noble concept inverted is debate.

The trouble with debate, as it is taught, is it's robbed of value and invested with cynicism. If you are introduced to the idea of debate at school, sixth-form or university, it is usually in the form (however informal) of the debating society. Not everything is generally up for discussion. Students aren't asked to debate the merits of murder or the upside of slavery. They will be asked to debate something reasonably abstract, say, renact the trial of Charles the 1st. Crucially the class will be split into two on an arbitrary basis. King Charles's trial was not arbitrary for its participants not to mention the country at large, which was in the process of revolution at the time. Presenting 'debate' in such a way suggests real arguments are nothing more than personal decisions, almost a matter of taste (rather than, say, a matter of life and death).

Debate is such a debased concept nowadays. I have little doubt it was in the past, but I want to look at two modern perversions of this idea. First is when debate is sustained beyond any reasonable meaning. A standard piece of rhetoric for climate change deniers is to assert their antagonists are trying to shut down debate. Debate is good, shutting down debate is bad, therefore people who insist on the reality of climate change and the neccessity of doing something about it (as opposed to discussing it) are bad.

But there is not equality between the George Monbiots and Bjorn Lomborgs of this world. One has an overwhelming mass of scientific and anecdotal evidence, the other does not. For democracy to have any meaning debate must have an endpoint, and that point has been reached over whether or not climate change is really happening. You might want to argue over how climate change may be tackled. I'd say, given the obviousness and urgency of the solutions to climate change, that debate should probably be brought to a close too.

There is no common ground between Monbiot and Lomborg. There is common ground between the majority of school, sixth-form and university students over the issues of EMA, coursecuts and tuition fee hikes. There is cause to debate how the government's attacks on students may be averted and/or overturned. Such a debate is not infighting, as Aaron Porter likes to suggest. Said gentleman is, of course, trying to curtail debate in order to cover his baldly exposed arse, having not only done everything to demobilise the student movement (what NUS president doesn't do this) but, when he could not longer do so, slander and condemn the people he represents.

Debate, as it is presented to us, is a sickening sham.

Stuff and soforth

Tony Blair: leaked Palestinian Papers have been "destabilising... If people in the Middle East didn't know we were shafting them they'd have to guess, and guessing is difficult and time consuming". I might have paraphrased a little.

Dave Gilmour's son Charlie Gilmour has been charged with "violent disorder and theft of a mannequin leg". The mannequin was described as "hopping mad". Boom, boom! But seriously, you forget how scabby the Graun can be sometimes. I see on the front page of the website it's got a story mentioning names and addresses of students being charged after demos last year. One student is being charged with "causing fear of unlawful violence", which would be funny if it weren't a serious matter for him... Still, it's good to be reminded how shit the Guardian can be.

Still, the Graun's got a live feed of events in Egypt. My favourite, so far, the police station (and torture base) in Suez being burned to the ground. Moar plz. Here's the IST statement on the situation.

Thinking of you

Everything ██is█████ ████ ████fine ███ █ ████ love. ████ █████ the ███ Egyptian ███ ████ government ██

Upon reading stuff

Reading various Stephen Jay Gould collections articles a simple but important theme emerges. There was never such a thing as Darwin's theory of evolution. Several of his popularisers used the term “evolution”. Darwin however always referred to descent by natural selection. Why is this important? To evolve means to progress from simplicity to complexity, crudity to sophistication. Darwin's theory rested on two facts, the variation within each genetic population and environmental selection. By deeming this process to be “evolution” one is able to rescue humankind's privileged position. Though we are no longer made in god's image we are still the endpoint of a long progression toward intelligence (instead of a strange flowering on a small branch of the tree of life).

Darwin's theory of how we came to be is properly contingent, you could say revolutionary. Karl Marx's admiration of Darwin makes even more sense in this light. What we know of natural history also fits descent by natural selection well. A common (albeit easily answered) query about natural selection is why the fossil record is incomplete. If we take evolution for natural selection why can't we find a smooth progression of ape forms, up through the human species to modern humans? Apart from the fact the missing link had to be hanging around peat bogs or ice flows in order to be preserved, there is no reason to expect a missing link. The division and creation of new species takes as long as environmental factors take to select them. A geological blink of an eye, as far as we're concerned it means change through leaps rather than smooth progress.

The last thing to note, something very positive, science properly practised abolishes morality from nature. Attempts to derive morality from nature have generally been disastrous, Social Darwinism being a recent example. Once we liberate ourselves from ideas of a natural order it frees us to truly examine the human condition, how it can be improved.

News in briefs

Britain's trade unions warn of growing militancy over government's economic gamble................................ again. The Tories have been in power for a year almost. Are we going to cut and paste this headline for the next twelve months? And yet we have already endured the biggest (enforced) drop in living standards since the 1920s, and that's the govenor of the Bank of England saying such. The same governor of the Bank of England who admitted it was corporate greed and financial gambling that triggered the recession. But don't banker-bash, and don't tax the rich, no, NEVER TAX THE RICH!

Get yr strike on!

News and spews

Monitoring the global distress signals going out: Ireland's Lib Dems (the functional equivalent of) are withdrawing from government:

Ireland was plunged into fresh political turmoil tonight when the Green party pulled out of its coalition with Fianna Fáil, precipitating an earlier than expected general election and stoking fears of a renewed global loss of confidence in the republic's economy.

At the end of a tumultuous week, which saw the prime minister, Brian Cowen, fight off an internal Fianna Fáil coup, only to resign days later as party leader, the Green deputies' decision to join the opposition benches has piled further pressure on to the now minority government to fast-track its crucial finance bill.

It'd be nice to think they did it out of conviction, but it seems they didn't get enough cabinet seats and they're still backing the latest finance bill. While we're on the subject, this kind of treachery has been a feature of Green parties in government [remember, for example, the German Greens]. In what way can green politics be considered left-wing?

Still... if this government finally goes it'll be one down.

Elsewhere, Silivo Berlusconi's party is gaining in support. That's right, gaining in support.

It has shocked and titillated newspaper readers the world over, but it would seem that the latest scandal over Silvio Berlusconi's riotous private life has done nothing to undermine his supporters' faith in him.

A poll published today by Corriere della Sera found backing for his Freedom People movement was higher than a month earlier, and less than half of Italians believed he should resign.

The survey was conducted last week, as controversy raged over the findings of an investigation by prosecutors in Milan, which had been delivered to parliament on 17 December. These included claims by a participant that Berlusconi hosted a party for more than 20 women that turned into an orgy.

The prostitute orgies are perhaps the least of the matter. Even more concerning than the gangsterism and corruption is the fact he has allowed fascism back into Italian public life with predictably grim results.

Let's not forget that, with the state channel, Berlusconi has a monopoly on news that only the Chinese state can match. He's been with us so long Berlusconi's like the wart you're tempted to name. Perhaps Italian civil society is suffering a variety of Stockholm Syndrome, where it's no longer possible to imagine public life without this gangster/pimp/fascist.

TFL and staff cuts

Those who complain about the RMT (boo-hoo, how dare the RMT democratically decide to withdraw its labour!) should do well to read this. The Evening Blackshirt also reports:

A Tube passenger was attacked and beaten up on a platform at an unstaffed station, it was revealed today.

The 32-year-old man was kicked and punched by a gang on a Northern Line train and the fight spilled out on to the platform at West Finchley.

Horrified passengers watched as the victim was assaulted by up to four men. Pleas for help went unanswered because no staff were on duty at the station to help. The attack brought immediate demands for employee cuts to be halted and stations to be staffed all the time trains are running.

The Evening Standard has revealed leaked documents, obtained by the RMT union, which show that London Underground bosses planned to leave one in three stations unmanned for part of the day because of staff and cash cuts.

Which rather undermines the Standard's rah, rah we're off to bash the oiks attidude to life in London... but then reality has that effect on Tories. When TFL push through cuts in station staff as part of a union-busting campaign it doesn't just lead to fewer jobs but a declining service for all Londoners.

When law is lawless

The undercover anarchist story is rolling and rolling. It turns out Mark Kennedy/Stone was trumped by Jim Sutton/Boyling (this is he). He went one better. He married his mark and had children by her. This is all but rape and perjury in one go. There's certainly a case to answer.

We should go back to Simon Behrman's argument regarding the rule of law and perhaps add an interesting point uncovered by JP Nettl's reading of Rosa Luxemburg. In Reform or Revolution Luxemburg suggests the essence of capitalism is fundamentally extra-legal. The dynamic of competitive accumulation cannot be removed by the stroke of a pen, it destroys every attempt to simply legislate it away.

Capitalism can afford to sanction its doings after the fact, which makes for a very flexible legal system. How can we reconcile the above actions with the rule of law? Simple, write it into law. It will take an awful lot to bring these scum to justice. It'd be worth it though.

Further on Mark Kennedy/Stone; according to a leading FITWatcher, though not a UAF activist, Kennedy/Stone took an interest in last year's anti-EDL demo in Bolton:

Activist Emily Apple recently wrote in the Guardian about undercover officer Mark Kennedy. She said, “The last time I saw him was in August when he came to a meeting about how to best oppose the EDL in Bradford.

“He was keen on diverting the discussion away from mass mobilisation in the city centre and targeting the coaches the EDL would be using.”

Could it be that the “intelligence” referred to by Greater Manchester Police before the Bradford protest came from Mark Kennedy?

Things that make you go, hmm.

Your choice

According to David Cameron, "critics of public service reform plans should 'grow up'". He then, "called for a more elevated national debate"... and that passes for rhetoric and argument in today's politics, gratuitously insult your opponents in order to rig the terms of discussion then call for rational debate. Shiva H Vishnu! Maybe the silver spoon he was born with got dropped on his head.

Personally whenever I hear this guff about 'choice' in public services I think back to when I almost died from an asthma attack. I didn't want a choice of ambulance, nor a choice hospital, let alone a choice of doctor, just an ambulance, a hospital and a doctor. 'Choice' implies a decision between good service and bad. Who chooses a bad service? The people who don't have a choice.

Tunisia

Knowing next to nothing about Tunisia I will say little, except I am heartened to find the movement there is still going. The Graun is doing a rolling update at the moment. It's a very basic estimation, the president has gone, but his soldiers and police officers are still dishing out violence. The war machine (made for waging war on Tunisians) has to be dismantled if Tunisia is to be free. Good luck with that.

The other amusing thing is the bizarre coverage western news outlets are giving it. No reporter mentions the word 'revolution', despite the fact they are reassuring themselves it can't possibly happen elsewhere, it can't, it can't, no, it just... can't... can it? They almost make out it's some infamous breakdown in customer service, those poor tourists!

Now, off to Lenin's Tomb, if you haven't already been there, to read something literate and sensible on the matter.

This week's For No Raisin

For no raisin, part three of the Magical Mystery tour; a bit wonky and dated, but it includes the cool bus race sequence.

Police psychosis

A short, neat example of how Britain's police force maintain a different level of reality to the rest of humanity. Though eco-activism is probably older than Swampy, he was the first nationally known direct actioneer. He sets the tone, at least in the public's imagination, of what an eco-activist is; good natured and a little gormless (he smiled happily all the way through his Have I Got News for You appearance), idealistic, probably a bit elitist but his heart's in the right place; certainly not dangerous or violent.

Meanwhile a second undercover police officer has been revealed, although not by the Guardian it seems, who appear to have been leaned on by the police.

Senior police chiefs said they were concerned for the safety of the second spy, and a major operation involving several UK forces is now under way to identify other operatives whose safety may have been compromised by [Mark] Kennedy [the original agent provocateur].

Excuse me?

That included undercover officers currently involved in ongoing police investigations across the UK and their families. "This is serious stuff," the police chief said. "Lots of people are at risk – their lives are at risk."

Sorry, I thought they were dealing with Plane Stupid and friends, not the Cosa Nostra. No one's life is at risk, no one's...

Here's another snippet of police logic. Sergeant Dan Stoddard of Hertforshire Constabulary is worried that "thousands on the street seems to have become an expensive luxury". Yes, bureaucratic bean-counting trumps democratic expression, freedom of assembly is just too expensive.

But, wait, there's more, Sgt Dan's not daft. He remembers to add than significant liberties, such as votes for women, were won by mass mobilisation. Something in the intervening years between the suffragettes and the students, although he doesn't explain what, has made the burdens the police bear too great.

Isn't it time the police were allowed legislate on who can express themselves, when and how? That's called a police state, Dan.

Tool Watch

No, it's probably not going to become a regular feature but check out this tool.

A nine-year-old girl lies in the morgue. A member of Congress faces a lifetime of struggle to recover from a bullet in the brain. A city is bracing itself for a string of funerals as it tries to fathom the carnage.

But Trent Humphries says there is another innocent victim left by Jared Lee Loughner's killing of six people and wounding of 14 others in his assassination attempt against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It is his Tea Party movement and, more particularly, his family. The killings, he says, are evolving into a conspiracy to destroy his organisation...

There you have it, the extent to which the American right has denatured political logic and language. By pointing out relentless violent rhetoric (Democrats are nazis, the president is illegitimate, don't retreat, reload) has created a culture where assassination can be pondered, discussed and finally attempted you are making political capital out of tragedy. Yes folks, these are the people banged on about 9/11 for years.

Fascism is a senile disorder of society. The USA is doddering toward its second childhood. I'm at a loss. Just chuck a fence around North America and put Here Be Dragons on maps from now on.

Philling More Space

I read the new ISJ (most of the ISJ) in one day. It's one of the best I've read in several quarters. There's a feedback article toward the end of the journal regarding transitional programmes. Some of it I don't get (the acronyms) however it sums up with an interesting thought:

Alex argues that “the logic of resisting the cuts… demands the formulation of an alternative economic programme”. I disagree. Thankfully it has never been necessary for people to have worked out a coherent alternative to the profit system in order to fight for “fair” pay or pensions, nor to completely reject the idea of a “national interest” in order to fight against racism or war.

Is this another version of "we have to win over public opinion" (an argument now used to block calls for strike action)? It was a common theme for anti-capitalist intellectuals ten years ago, "we all know what we are against, but we have to decide what we a for". Said intellectuals then went away and wrote page after page in book after book (sold in shop after shop) outlining what they think we should be for. It reminds me of the old observation, every determination is a negation, what you are is not everything else. The act of resisting cuts comes first, surely, before the alternative programme, just as the general strike comes before the workers government.

Phil Space

Have you got some time on your hands between now and the inevitable collapse of human civilisation (man, won't that be a relief)? Why not try reading the new ISJ, a scoop at a mere five pounds, which, if you think about it, will probably buy a penny sweet in twelve months time.

Thoughts within thoughts

Last year saw the discovery of Gliese 581g, the first (habitable) planet to exist within the habitable zone of its star. It is a super-earth, a planet 3.1 to 4.3 times as massive. We have no idea how big it is yet, therefore we cannot say for certain what its density or composition is. For the purpose of this argument we will assume it is the same density and composition as the Earth, therefore it is larger than the Earth.

Now, lets bring up plate tectonics. This is a very important process for life on Earth. The Earth has a molten core because it has decaying radioactive material heating the rock, but all planets and moons have (or had) this to some degree. Plate tectonics occur because the Earth has a sufficiently low surface area to volume ratio. The maths is beyond me but all we need know is the volume of a three dimensional object increases at a faster rate than its surface area. This means that land as well as radioactive materials are recycled. Continents are built, mountain ranges grow, seas vanish and reform. It also means the air is supplied with enough greenhouse gases, without which the Earth would actually freeze.

If we want to plot a simple graph we could the Moon, Mars and Earth. The Moon is roughly 1/4 the size of the Earth. It had early geological activity, we can see the result in the dark plains we call seas and oceans on the Moon. But the surface to volume ratio was too high. Whether or not the core of the Moon is active now there is no way for any internal forces to break out. Mars meanwhile is 1/2 the size of the Earth. Its surface is now geologically dead, just as the Moon is, but we see some primitive attempts at plate tectonics viz Mariner Valley.

What does this mean for possible planet 3-4 times bigger than the Earth? All other things being equal does that mean Gliese 581g is super-active?

One final thing, lets throw a curveball, something off the graph. Venus is roughly the same size as the Earth. It has ample evidence of volcanic activity, including strange high, flat mountains that remind scientists of pancakes. One truly bizarre fact, Venus is almost evenly peppered with impact craters, which, added up, suggests the entire surface of the planet is more or less the same age. What on Earth (or Venus) could cause the planet to turn itself inside out like that?