THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS 2013.

Well 2013 is nearly over and as for as I am personally concerned thank god for that as to be blunt it has not been a good year for me at all.

I tried to start off 2013 on an optimistic note by getting involved in the law of attraction process this was a big mistake as it does not work. More about the law of attraction in a future blog. However 2013 quickly turned negative for me as an old health problem can back to haunt me with a vengeance and I spent most of 2013 in chronic pain. Also my mother who I was quite close to died in October 2013. The only bright note for me was managing to leave my employment in late 2013.But again all in all for me personally 2013 is a year to forget.

However as for the world in general I feel there was a few hopeful signs. Firstly the House of Commons vote against military action against Syria on 29/8/13.I still cannot believe the vote but well done to Ed Miliband for voting against military action. One in the eye against Tony Blair and the other neo conservative lackeys in the Labour Party. Secondly the agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme. Both of the above events created rage amongst the international neo conservative Zionist community. But perhaps John Lennon,s message of give peace a chance is finally getting through to even some politicians.

The main negatives as far as I am concerned is firstly the continuing austerity here in Britain and neo liberalism in the majority of countries in the world and secondly the increasing severity of the storms here in Britain which are starting to affect even the economic life of our country. I do not of course know what is the cause of the increasing severity of the storms world wide but I predict that climate experts will perhaps be debating this subject in 2014.

However this year unlike last I will be out on new years eve to the early hours celebrating the fact that this difficult year is finally over. In conclusion in my next blog I will put on my crystal ball and try and predict what will happen in 2014.

CHRISTMAS 2013

Well Christmas 2013 is nearly here. Now as I have said to many people before Christmas has always been my favourite time of the year. There is a certain joy and hope about Christmas that is unique to the Christmas period.

However this Christmas the same enjoyment does not quite exist for me as it has during previous Christmas periods. I put this down to a number of reasons. Firstly chronic pain and persistent poor health has almost certainly takes it toll and secondly the loss of my mother in October this year.

However despite this suffering there is still an underlying hope at Christmas which I put down to Jesus birth. Last Wednesday I went to the Christmas carol service at St Stephens church in Walbrook and the singing of Hark the herald angels sing had a very big emotional and spiritual affect on me.

So if you are in chronic pain like myself or if you have family, personal, emotional or financial problems I feel that Jesus birth in humble settings in Bethlehem the home of the home of the subjected Palestinian people offers great hope for every individual member of mankind. I base this view on Jesus subsequent message of justice, redemption and eternal salvation.

So I say to every person facing human suffering concentrate on the figure of Jesus on Christmas eve imagine his white light pouring over your body. As Jesus birth in a humble setting can be an inspiration for mankinds freedom, salvation and for world justice and peace.

Have a happy Christmas all.

POPE FRANCIS COMMENTS ON MARXISM

In an interview published on Saturday 14/12/13 Pope Francis stated that although he is opposed to Marxism he knows of many good people who are Marxists and that many Marxists are well meaning. I feel that Pope Francis views are interesting and lay the grounds for a future debate particularly in relation to liberation theology.

Now it is not surprising that Pope Francis who has criticized capitalism has also criticized Marxism. Many people associate Marxism with Lenin who helped establish the authoritarian dictatorship in the USSR. But there was also a non authoritarian Marxism based on the ideas of people like Rosa Luxemburg.

Now myself I am a liberation theology Christian. I reject Karl Marx view that there is no good and the all dialectics in the world are material. However I agree with his view of the class struggle and the dialectical process of history and that capitalism will always have periods of crisis. You only have to look at the world economy over the last five years to confirm this point of view.

However Pope Francis who has made a positive stand on social justice has I feel opened the basis of debate which liberation theology Christians can take advantage of and so help build a new political movement for a new world society based on social justice. So it is essential that activists try and get involved in social justice and anti war groups in 2014 and try over a period of time help build a new world based on social justice.

THOUGHTS ON THE DEATH OF NELSON MANDELA

Nelson Mandela,s death on the 5/12/2013 quite correctly led to widespread international mourning from both the general public and the people of South Africa. His courageous battle against the evil apartheid system in that country will be remembered for ever. He is also entitled to receive great credit to a peaceful transfer of government power based on one person one vote which obviously meant an African National Government which is the political party which represents the vast majority of Africans in South Africa.

However one of the strange aspects of the international tributes paid to Nelson Mandela after his death was those paid to him by right wing politicians who used to call the ANC a terrorist organization during the apartheid regime. Amongst the people who paid tribute to Nelson Mandela was our own Prime Minister David Cameron who visited South Africa during apartheid rule. One must obviously ask why are right wing politicians now paying great tributes to Mr Mandela. The answer to this question I feel is to a certain extent controversial and may upset some people. But I feel that once in power the ANC established a typical neo colonialist regime based on the real power still being held by the European South African capitalists in return for ANC representatives being given some representations in these capitalist companies.

After the ANC came to power they and their South African Communist Party allies dropped quickly dropped their support for nationalization of industries and instead supported the privatization of some industries. Nelson Mandela himself spoke in support of privatization and of his opposition to nationalization.

Today in South African European South Africans own 80% of the farming land,90% of the general wealth and 75% of business interests. So clearly the ANC and their SACP allies run the country for the benefit of the European capitalists and the ANC elite.

Based on these statistics I feel that a new political party is needed in South Africa to build a Democratic Socialist South Africa. This party must adopt a programme of public ownership of major corporations, decent housing and health services for all. Such a new Democratic Socialist Party can attract the support of both working class Africans and European middle class people interested in social justice. In conclusion I very much welcome comments from readers on this to a certain extent in controversial blog.

LEFT UNITY FOUNDING CONFERENCE 30/11/2013

Last Saturday 30/11/2013 I attended the founding conference of Left Unity in London. Now it goes without saying that this was a very important event as Britain urgently needs a socialist electoral alternative to the Labour Party who largely accept neo liberalism.

Left Unity has I feel made a very promising start. It has recruited 1200.000 paying members and 10000.000 email supporters even before its founding conference.

My view of the founding conference was mainly positive. Just under 500 people attended the founding conference. The main agenda of the founding conference was deciding the Left Unity constitution. The debates were mainly good natured without rancour and a policy making conference will be held in March 2014.

In my opinion the main thing what is positive about Left Unity is that it is not a hierarchical Leninist organization. But instead it is a democratic party controlled by its members.

The key task is to make sure that left unity adopts a socialist programme of widespread public ownership at its next conference in March 2014. However in conclusion Left Unity has made a very promising start at its founding conference.