[A-List] Re: Scotland: SNP disintegration

["an talla" <an.talla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael quite simply I don't disagree with what you say. I can see nothing
that stands opposed to my last post when you include the section about
building europe-wide trade unions, which you omitted. The SSP is under no
illusions about the international forces that would be arraigned against a
Scottish Socialist Republic, we are internationalists plain and simple, and
will always work to build the forces of socialism internationally.

Equally though I find little that challenges my assertion that for an
independent Scotland membership of the euro/ EU would simply serve to
strengthen european capitalism/ imperialism, and work to the immediate
detriment of workers in Scotland and any hope to effect even the minimalist
redistribution of wealth in the short to medium term.

Donnie

: 6
> From: "Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>
> To: <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [A-List] Re: Scotland: SNP disintegration
> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 08:56:54 +0300
> Reply-To: a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>

> Our enemy is capitalism. The question is, how to advance the struggle? The
> EU, as it is presently constituted, is in no fit shape to offer much of
> anything positive to the working class of Europe. But to ignore it, or to
> imagine that one day we will simply leave it behind, is as good as
ignoring
> the US, or even the British state. To accomplish what you intend will
> involve almighty struggle, and don't believe for a minute that it will be
> cleanly fought and depend only on the ballot box. Consider what is at
stake:
> the British state's dependence upon disproportionate numbers of Scots for
> military recruitment; the use of Scottish territory for US/British
military
> installations, including nuclear weaponry; the very stability of a crucial
> pillar of the global imperialist apparatus. With stakes this high there is
> no question that the SSP, should it gain ground and present a serious
> challenge to the status quo, will be the subject of the dirtiest tricks
> imaginable. For that reason alone the international context in which the
> Scottish socialist struggle is conducted must be taken into account. And
it
> just so happens that taking matters in a European direction helps us in
our
> primary struggle against the British state. It also offers a vital support
> in what is really a part of a much wider, international struggle.

Rejecting
> "Europe" because of the ECB is based on a false dichotomy, the other side
of
> which is that there is some feasible way in which an independent Scotland
> could create its own currency and thereafter set monetary policy to suit
its
> own economic needs. An independent Scotland would still, of course, have
> control over fiscal policy but would nevertheless be subject to the threat
> and doubtless actuality of a capital strike and the subsequent upheaval
that
> would cause. Are the social conditions in Scotland such that an SSP
> government would be capable of surviving this, in addition to all the
other
> problems that will inevitably be thrown its way?
>
> No, my argument re the eurozone presupposes that it is as a part of
> "Britain" that we enter it, thereby diminishing the importance of a key
> instrument of oppression, the Bank of England, plus weakening the role of
> the City of London. Meanwhile, although your points regarding the attacks
on
> social welfare provision across Europe are correct, most of the rest of
> Europe begins from a much higher level of such provision than do we,
having
> been subject to such attacks since 1976, thanks to the imposition of IMF
> guidelines courtesy of the USA and its lackeys (witting and otherwise) in
> London. Europe, and Germany in particular, still has an organised working
> class in a way that can only be remembered by the British. And it is by
> joining in struggle with our European comrades on the plane of struggle
that
> will largely determine what kind of future Scots, English and Welsh can
> expect that we can hope to strike a meaningful, significant blow as part o
f
> the longer, ongoing struggle.
 >
> You'll correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to believe that it is simply
a
> case of Scotland becoming independent and setting about creating its own
> version of socialism free from outside interference. Even if that were the
> case, the upheaval attendant in the massive redistribution and
reallocation
> of resources resulting from the enactment of SSP policies will most
> certainly provoke a violent reaction, especially because a significant
> number of people are going to discover that their material living
standards
> will fall. And this will especially be the case with the dwindling oil
> stocks, squandered by successive British governments -- assuming, of
course,
> that an independent Scotland would be allowed to have access to these
> anyway.
>
> You continue:
>
> I don't think that arguing against the EU means limiting your outlook to
> 'socialism in one country', (if I had a penny for every time I'd heard
> that.....) it is just a realisation that the EU is run by, and in the
> interests of, European capitalism as it tries to present itself as a
global
> force to challenge US economic domination.
>
> -----
>
> Well I am aware of the Trotskyist background of many in the SSP and the
> irony of its apparent "socialism in one country" stance is not lost on
me --
> and presumably, on others. Of course the EU is run in the interests of
> European capitalism. But that is so riven with contradiction and the
> opportunities for struggle in that arena are far more promising in terms
of
> the balance of class forces that to locate the Scottish struggle at that
> level simply seems a more promising avenue to me. Of course if the SSP
does
> achieve independence from Britain and secures withdrawal from the EU then
> the circumstances will have changed irrevocably and therefore we would
have
> to consider an entirely different set of options. But I think it is more
> likely that Britain enters the eurozone before an independent Scotland is

> led by the SSP. And on that basis, in addition to more fundamental
> evaluation of the nature and role of the British state, I think it is in
our
> interests to do all that we can to weaken the British state as it stands.
> That is not simply to be accomplished by eurozone membership (there is
also
> Northern Ireland and devolution to consider) but it does also strike a
blow
> at US hegemony as that is exercised over all the peoples of Britain, and,
by
> extension, further limits the ability of the British state to pursue its
> sub-imperialist goals within the framework of US imperialism.
>
> Michael
>