Some valuable perspective on the Brexit.
We present here two widely divergent perspectives on the meaning and the prospects opened up by Brexit, both originally published by Defend Democracy. The starkness of the contrast – between the view of a former World Bank officer and that of a self-identified revolutionary socialist — is, we think, itself of considerable interest.
The first analysis comes from Neil Faulkner, “a revolutionary socialist, a Brick Lane Debates activist, and the author of A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals.” The second is by Peter Koenig, co-author ofThe World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
Brexit and the Crisis on the British Left
by Neil Faulkner
Taking a position on the EU Referendum was not easy. The in/out choice was essentially an argument inside the political and corporate elite about what was best for British capitalism. We do not wish to…
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bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
10 comments
July 2, 2016 at 10:24 am
roughseasinthemed
Both posts have flaws. Faulkner wrote that people voted for Farage, Gove and Johnson. This wasn’t an election. We weren’t voting for people, but for a principle. Big difference. And none of those are likely to be leading the country. Not now, and hopefully, not ever.
I’ve read better analyses. However, the comments were worth a read.
Here’s a different view from revolting Europe:
https://revolting-europe.com/2016/06/25/brexit-reactions-from-europes-radical-left/
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July 2, 2016 at 10:36 am
The Arbourist
@RSitM
The Off-guardian sprung up quite recently for me. They seem to be in a similar vein as Media Lens.
They seem to be off the beaten path, and are trying to do some journalism. I’m following them on WP and will continue to see how they do.
Good stuff on the revolting Europe site. Thanks. :)
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July 2, 2016 at 10:47 am
roughseasinthemed
That’s fair enough. I haven’t the time to follow loads, I do lokk at Al-Jaz from time to time, but mostly read The Grauniad and BBC. I can apply my own filters. I read two contradictory articles in The Graun today, one was well written and made some pertinent observations. The second, although shorter was harder to read, and spouted contradictory rhetoric.
I’ve been following RE for ages. Went quiet for a while but seems to be back. Much is translated hence some odd English but it’s clear enough. Pulled together by someone who does/did work for the Morning Star which gives it credibility to me. When I was a government lackey, we liked the MS because we always got consistent fair reporting.
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July 2, 2016 at 11:24 am
The Arbourist
@RSitM
Well, another point of view to be had over at Counter-punch. Andre Vltchek has guns a-blaze in this one…
Thoughts?
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July 2, 2016 at 11:46 am
roughseasinthemed
Another load of patronising condescending bullshit. But if you like, I’ll be honest.
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July 2, 2016 at 11:48 am
The Arbourist
@RSitM
Well you may have to express how you *really* feel… :)
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July 2, 2016 at 11:59 am
roughseasinthemed
I thought it might not be appropriate :)
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July 2, 2016 at 1:58 pm
bleatmop
The first article is so deeply flawed. The City of London and by extension London have the most to gain from staying in the EU and that is why that region voted very strongly to stay. The same goes for Scotland with their oil wealth, they want to continue to access the EU market and have been lead to believe from the plutocracy that their access would be revoked if the left the EU; a patent lie as not buying Scottish oil would only make the EU even more dependent on Russian oil and gas as they are currently gearing up for war with Russia.
The author also plays the racism card so casually that one might take it as a self evident truth. They have been playing that card much the same way as in the USA people opposed to the unfettered access of immigrants, illegal or not, are branded as racists. The only bad news for the regressive left is that unfettered intake of immigrants will only turn your country into one that looks much the same as the country those people are fleeing from. That is one that has a rich plutocracy with a massive poverty class.
The EU’s freedom of movement of workers is like our TFWP on steroids. There is no need for them to even get visas for the people coming in to replace the locals jobs. These people coming from poor countries will take any job and work it for minimum wage because the GBP, the USD, or CAD are worth so much more then their native currency. The net effect is that jobs that used to provide a good middle class income are now starvation poverty jobs.
The permission/tolerance of illegal immigration in the USA, the free movement of workers in the EU and the TFWP is Canada are all things supported and created (or lobbied to have no action taken upon in the USA) by the corporate plutocracy in their respective countries. All three things suppress wages and help create their neoliberal dystopia. And when the TPP and TTIP come into play these middle class destroying measures will go super saiyan and finally stab the middle class in the heart.
There is nothing that the plutocracy fears more than an educated and powerful middle class that can fight against them. Pretty soon they will have their final victory as even the sovereignty of our democratic institutions will be eroded with the TPP and TTIP and we will have no recourse to fight back with.
Anyway, this is turning into a novel so I’ll stop here. I’ll just leave with saying that anytime the corporate media is demonizing something and calling people racist that perhaps we should take a step back and ask ourselves what is really going on here.
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July 2, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Bernie Orbust
The European ECONOMIC Union is founded on three odious market-fundamentalist ideas: 1) free trade (a WMD on the bottom 80%); 2) a common currency area (that leveled the European economy when the recession hit — by design: cf. ‘Robert Mundell, evil genius of the euro.’); 3) deregulated borders (that pointlessly flooded EU nations with immigrants.)
The purpose of the EEU is to force neoliberal reforms on largely social-democratic nations against their democratic will on an empire-wide basis. Of course, market fundamentalists will tell you that free trade ends war. (This nonsense even made an episode of Penn & Teller’s “Bullshit!”) But these people are much more interested in looting MOAR free money with self-serving economic ideology than the “peace, love and unity” BS they sold the EEU as.
All the establishment hand-wringing over this is outrageous. The FTSE didn’t lose any ground. The pound lost 8% (the CAD dropped 26% since the price of oil crashed.) Liars in public places! The collapse of their precious free-trade deals will certainly derail the robber-baron gravy train, but the people only have to lose economic misery.
Notice how the establishment lumps the center-left progressives in with the right-wing nationalist xenophobes? It was easier to do with the Brexit when only right-wing crackpots were overtly supporting ‘Leave.’ But they did the same with Bernie Sanders claiming his supporters were ‘racist, misogynist Bernie Bros.’
These genetically-entitled plutocrats are nothing more than ethically-bankrupt sociopaths viciously clinging to unearned wealth and power. We must remove their fraudulent stranglehold over our economies, governments, courts, news media, businesses and civilization or they will destroy it all with their insatiable greed and corruption. (Some big democratic government is in order.)
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July 2, 2016 at 3:51 pm
Bernie Orbust
“The EU’s freedom of movement of workers is like our TFWP on steroids. There is no need for them to even get visas for the people coming in to replace the locals jobs.”
Ah. This explains the ‘pointless flood of immigration.’ (When the robber barons design something to fail, there’s always some disgusting, greedy agenda behind it. Great leaders of self-interest and no one at the rudder while the SS Humanity chugs along at full speed in iceberg-infested waters.)
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