5 people were present. 4 sent their apologies.
Our first reaction was that there had been very little happening politically, or rather, just the same things continuing: Brexit, Trump, N Korea. Anxiety was expressed about the close relationship developing between Trump and Netanyahu and the likelihood of the Iran deal on nuclear development being scrapped.
Excitement that offshore wind power is considerably cheaper than expected, making nuclear seem an even worse option. Taking into account construction and other elements nuclear is far from the carbon neutral that is usually assumed. While Green policies are against nuclear, Labour still appears supportive. Their argument is likely to revolve around the protection (or enhancement) of jobs around nuclear construction, but the case should be made more strongly that alternative energy provision has enormous potential for job creation.
Protection of existing jobs (rather than creation of new ones) is a continual concern of Trades Unions whose purpose is to protect their members. This is particularly needed when company law is totally focussed on the shareholders and workers have no representation on company boards. Political parties (even Labour) have shown little regard for the interests of workers and so, while trades union influence has declined, the need for them is even greater. We thought the failure of governments of the left (in France and elsewhere as well as UK), is largely because of the power of a financial system based upon an economic model which focuses solely upon the market as the basis of policy. This ‘neoliberal’ model is based upon the general acceptance of the ‘story’ regarding the importance of the market, which has replaced the earlier story of the importance of social democracy. Has the neoliberal model shown itself to be no longer working? Or has the recent ‘crisis’ been an instance of its working successfully to redistribute wealth upwards.
How might a new story emerge and upon what might it be based? We considered the possible roles of collaboration, decentralisation and the new technologies which enable exchange and distribution of goods (especially knowledge and finance) in ways that can circumvent institutions such as banks. But would this not just replace one kind of capitalist institution by another?
And anyway, has the ‘story’ of the neoliberal free market really had its day? News reportage, political developments, etc, as still always reported in ways which unquestioningly accept neoliberal assumptions regarding the market.