Emergence of the New Majority
being Volume I of Social Capitalism in Theory and Practice
ISBN-13 978-0-9556055-3-6
Retail price: £18.99 US$ 32.99 €27.20
The Author
This is the first of three volumes of Robert Corfe’s long-awaited work on Social Capitalism. In this book, as a preparation for presenting his economic ideas on reforming our financial-industrial institutions, he considers the political environment as we find it today. In the early chapters he describes the self-delusion, confusion, and intellectual sterility of the Labour party and the left worldwide, and their inability to move ahead as convincing modes for reform and modernisation. He then analyses the hidden undercurrents of the left and Marxism, as they still influence contemporary politics, and shows how modern men and women across the social spectrum are no longer prepared to support the divisive politics of class. He then describes the transformation of society over the past 60 years: the crisis of confidence of the middle class, the upward movement of the cloth-capped proletariat, and the creation of a new middle-middle majority, which will eventually lead to the demise of the political system as we know it. The book concludes with three chapters describing different practical aspects of Social Capitalism.
More about this book –
In democracies throughout the industrialised world, political systems are everywhere beginning to unravel, and thinking people – even amongst our leaders – are uncertain of the reason why. Whilst most governments drive towards greater equity and justice, the reality is towards an opposite direction, and the greater polarisation of society.
The author of this book points the blame on the failure to politicise the significant issues of our time. Party politics is ideologically trapped in the past, and is unable to grasp the realities of the present. Worse still, political systems throughout the democratic world are probably incapable of addressing the real threats which confront us.
In this major 3-volume work, Robert Corfe argues that we need to politicise those issues raised by our financial-industrial system, and for this purpose he creates a new political vocabulary, and identifies the actual realities of politico-economic life today. The irrefutable fact is that our financial-industrial system is undermining democratic life and government, and our politicians (of all parties) are deluding themselves and their electorates when they helplessly put their trust in an optimistic outcome.
Furthermore, the ideological (or pragmatic) approach of the old parties is unfitted to confront the crises of the future. This first volume explains the reason why, and shows how the emergence of the new majority, through the transformation of society, is sickened by the pattern of the old class conflicts which today are meaningless as a tool towards progress. Our leading statesmen- and women already have an inkling of this truth.
This opening volume describes the new heterogeneous middle-middle majority, and how it comprises those who have climbed from proletarian origins, as well as those from the upper middle classes whose confidence and affluence have been broken on the wheel of egalitarian forces. Whilst an economic revolution has already been achieved, a new political consciousness still awaits the dawn.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1 – Divorce between government and the electorate 2 – Bankruptcy of left/right politics 3 – Failure of will to meet the prospects of catastrophe 4 – The call of Social Capitalism and what it is 5 – Testing the early theory in the field of politics 6 – Principles of Social Capitalism 7 – The Labour party resists socialising capitalism 8 – Relations with the unions 9 – Response to “New Socialism” 10 – Corrosive resentment of socialism 11 – Unrealism of Labour members 12 – Social Capitalism and academia 13 – Safeguarding national integrity 14 – The priority of internationalism 15 – Achieving Social Capitalism
PART I
Introduction to Part I:-
THE MISMATCH OF NEW SOCIETY WITH OLD IDEAS
CHAPTER 1
The Remit of Political Discussion
1 – Need to identify the remit of political discussion 2 – The 8 spheres of political life 3 – Characteristics of a political party 4 – Characteristics of the local politician 5 – Distinguishing the Agitator from the Politician 6 – The change from Idealist to Functionary 7 – Characteristics of the Ordinary party member 8 – The Councillor and Ordinary member compared 9 – The Trades Union activist 10 – Future role of the unions 11 – But this is threatened 12 – The party as national government 13 – The fusion and confusion between Action and Purpose 14 – Limitations of governmental power 15 – Need to re-formulate principles in strengthening party purpose 16 – For whom do governments rule? 17 – Dangers to democracy 18 – Distinguishing the party electorate from the party membership 19 – Is the Party betrayed by the government?
CHAPTER 2
Arousing a New Political Consciousness
1 – Need to repudiate the tenets of the past 2 – The transformation of society 3 – The new 90% majority is Social Capitalism’s natural constituency 4 – Economic changes demonstrating this 5 – Confronting Neo-Liberalism 6 – Arousing a consciousness for the Responsible Society 7 – Function of the Party Manifesto 8 – Underlying philosophy of the Party should unify its component parts 9 – Party and not government should oversee principles 10 – Old Socialism sought to undermine the Realpolitik of Labour government 11 – The objectivity of New Socialism helps to justify practical necessity 12 – Value of the historical approach to political understanding 13 – Importance of empiricism 14 – Need for sociological considerations 15 – And lastly, the holistic approach
CHAPTER 3
Chameleons, Self-Deceivers and Intriguers
1 – Confronting a chameleon 2 – Business people must become agents for change 3 – Damaging legacy of Old Socialist feeling 4 – The dyspeptic local official 5 – The success of his tactics 6 – But he remains a respected establishment figure 7 – Despite his hidden political views 8 – Pretence and hypocrisy of many Party activists 9 – Causes of this 10 – An ideological vacuum makes the party vulnerable 11 – The poison of those with secret agendas
CHAPTER 4
The Drive towards Internal Authority
1 – Internal and External authority 2 – Why society’s leaders should support Social Capitalism 3 – The multi-class society disdains class struggle 4 – Class war no longer viable 5 – Implications of attacking an economic system 6 – Social Capitalists as promoters of business 7 – As responsible stewards of the economy 8 – Old Socialism was undemocratic 9 – Collectivism and representative bodies are often undemocratic 10 – Comparison with true democratic systems 11 – People power defined 12 – Origins and nature of state authority 13 – Authority in the medieval world 14 – Emergence of capitalism 15 – Centralisation and the new absolutism and reactions against them
CHAPTER 5
mergence of the Fully Conscious Community
1 – Justifying the acquisitive instinct 2 – Contrasting outcome of the American and French Revolutions 3 – Emergence of the uncompromising struggle 4 – But it entailed a de-humanising or regression of social consciousness 5 – Emergence of the middle-middle majority 6 – The popular demand for ownership and control differs from that of Old Socialism 7 – Social benefits of the knowledge-based society 8 –The strengthening of internal authority 9 – Confronting the problem of bread and circuses 10 – Whilst the American concept of freedom is based on Satisfaction the European concept is based on the Reality of human relations 11 – But Behaviourist management techniques have taken over the Labour Party 12 – Full consciousness in society and what it means
CHAPTER 6
Breakdown of The Old Class System
1 – The benevolent state and the uncaring individual 2 – Social Capitalism concerned with all aspects of society 3 – The communally-minded middle class of an earlier epoch 4 – Misunderstanding which led to class tensions 5 – The old classes were to destroy themselves 6 – The need for social capital 7 – The hidden origins of the beautiful people 8 – Decline of the old middle class 9 – The first political blow 10 – How the Tories betrayed the old middle class 11 – New values and emergence of the middle-middle majority 12 – Decline of the old working class 13 – A call to the declining classes 14 – The new egalitarianism
PART II
Introduction to Part II:-
EXORCISING THE GHOST OF MARX
CHAPTER 7
Transformation of the World of Work
1 – Need to re-build the Labour Party 2 – Churning over old ideas compounds issues rather than resolves them 3 – The philosophy needs up-dating 4 – Evidence of Party decline 5 – Causes of poor morale 6 – Mismatch between the world of actuality and constructive thought 7 – Tony Blair and his values 8 – The problem with pragmatists 9 – How it weakens resolve 10 – The values of Old Labour and Old Socialism 11 – How they became anachronistic 12 – Changes in the sociology of work 13 – Spirit of toleration has emerged from the heterogeneous middle-middle majority 14 – Demise of unfair discrimination 15 – How toleration has advanced individualism 16 – Class war is now anathema with the majority
CHAPTER 8
Intellectual Bankruptcy of the Left
1 – Labour must look forward but never back 2 – Transformed working class abhors class conflict 3 – Transformation of the old middle class 4 – Discrimination against any intrinsic groups is no longer acceptable 5 – Social structures no longer enable a class war situation 6 – Social Capitalism is about empowering the individual 7 – Analysis of capitalism is at the core of Social Capitalism 8 – Labour leaders have always disdained business 9 – Differentiating desirable from undesirable business practices 10 – The phony and the real economies 11 – The dialectic of Productive Profitability in assessing all business activity 12 – New Labour associates with the wrong business leaders 13 – And consequently has failed to address urgent issues 14 – Labour’s new 90% constituency? 15 – The great struggle ahead 16 – The dialectic of Social Capitalism in empowering change 17 – Marxism remains a barrier against change 18 – And through collectivism denies freedom 19 – Emergence of the Responsible Society and its significance
CHAPTER 9
Practical Failures of the Left
1 – Socially accountable capitalism is now the only acceptable form of capitalism 2 – Contemporary Socialism fails to challenge corporate capital 3 – And the dynamics essential to business 4 – Technology exerts social and economic change 5 – The moral high ground of groups does not in itself justify their right to power 6 – Worldwide atrocities of Old Socialism 7 – Working people no longer natural Labour supporters 8 – The ills of Old Socialism are systemic 9 – Right wing parties have passed more legislation benefiting the masses 10 – Futility of hero-worship or that of bygone movements
CHAPTER 10
Why Socialism Repels
1 – Good intentions not enough 2 – Primal causes must be sought and understood 3 – Socialist-like legislation from non-Socialist sources is still a benefit 4 – Socialism emerges most successfully in highly educated societies 5 – The problem of presenting Socialism 6 – The surreptitious influence of Marx 7 – The unconscious Marxists 8 – Marxism is a science for revolution rather than a programme for construction 9 – Psychological reasons for resisting the lure of Socialism
CHAPTER 11
The Bane of Marxism
1 – Marxism must be repudiated 2 – Relevance and irrelevance of Marxism today 3 – Towards the new class consciousness 4 – The different nature of future radical struggle 5 – Marxism today is retrogressive 6 – Marx failed to predict the bifurcation of capitalism into malign and benign forms 7 – His idealisation of the proletariat falsified reality 8 – Today’s multi-class majority are repelled by his view of the proletariat 9 – Politics as a “science” 10 – Subjectivity of class struggle devalues politics as a science 11 – The psychological fault lines in Marxism 12 – Futility of the Labour Value theory
CHAPTER 12
The Core of Social Capitalist Philosophy
1 – Social Capitalism’s Productive Profitability as an objective evaluation method 2 – A constructive methodology for the resolution of conflict 3 – Social Capitalism employs the descriptive mode in foretelling a desirable future 4 – As it also equally values those from every sector of society 5 – Invalidity of dialectical-materialism 6 – New Idealism as an essential tool for constructive thought and as a unified conceptual synthesis 7 – The 20th century’s dearth of political thought 8 – The legacy of 20th century philosophy 9 – Consequently, political philosophy (or science) has been placed in a straitjacket 10 – Need to consider ethical values 11 – Other values of idealist philosophy 12 – Marx an accident of history
CHAPTER 13
Promoting The New Socialist Message
1 – Fourfold approach to the core values of Social Capitalism 2 – Ethical appeal to all sectors of society 3 – Most highly-educated should be drawn in as activists 4 – Promoting Social Capitalist education 5 – Aspiring qualities of New Socialists 6 – Spreading the message 7 Creating the right social ambience 8 – A role for the older generation 9 – Spin-doctoring has discredited the Labour Party 10 – The need for Public Intellectuals 11 – The role of the trades union movement 12 – Promoting Social Capitalism
PART III
Introduction to Part III:-
THE CALL ON EXPERTISE FOR CHANGE
CHAPTER 14
Acknowledging Social Change
1 – A unanimity on social values 2 – Privilege is now a thing from the past 3 – Class-based parties have served their useful purpose 4 – The multi-class (or classless) society loathes intolerance 5 – Business values are the essential springboard for general prosperity 6 – Industry and not the politics of the left did more to raise the standards of the poor 7 – Old Socialists fail to acknowledge the political significance of social change 8 – They never attempted to develop a business culture 9 – Unreality of Old Socialism’s benign view of human nature 10 – Why Old Socialists refuse to consider the views of the broader populace 11 – The political system has alienated itself from the people, not vice versa 12 – Mismatch between ideology and actuality 13 – Old Socialist doctrines an embarrassment to the Labour Party 14 – Real class divisions prior to 1950 15 – The spirit of tolerance has evoked an intolerance of class war 16 – Divisiveness is judged by the majority as perverse
CHAPTER 15
Futility of Class Struggle
1 – Education and cooperation in the work environment 2 – Egalitarianism in the wake of consumerism 3 – The passing of privilege makes for a democratic environment 4 – Lack of class-based issues 5 – Not even Rentier Capitalism lends itself to class struggle 6 – Those operating the worst aspects of capitalism cannot easily be identified as a class 7 – The existing remnants of class war Socialists 8 – The benign dialectical purpose of class war was malign in practice 9 – New Labour’s fence-sitting leaves Socialism in limbo 10 – Whilst a dualistic society makes for confrontation, a multi-class middle-middle majority makes for cooperation 11 – A comparison between past and present 12 – When envy is a private vice and not a reflection of social ills
CHAPTER 16
Employers in The Vanguard of Progress
1 – Justice and equality can only be achieved through the initiative of those at the apex of society 2 – Those amongst the apex of society have always promoted the interests of the majority 3 – Middle class fear of the proletarianisation of society: its political basis 4 – Its psychological basis 5 – Attractions of Social Capitalism to the affluent 6 – Inevitable juggernaut of freedom for the majority 7 – Employee ownership will promote not hinder efficiency 8 – Socialism in practice prevents the achievement of its own purpose 9 – How employee ownership will be achieved and welcomed by bosses 10 – Leading industrialists as Social Capitalists 11 – Social Capitalism a return to St. Simonism 12 – If Marxism had been bye-passed real Socialism may have already been achieved at an earlier epoch in history
CHAPTER 17
The Social Capitalism of Industrialists
1 – The City represses those with innovative ideas 2 – Whilst the Labour Party spurns innovative industrialists 3 – Examples of outstanding industrialists 4 – A classless Socialism would be very different from a proletarian Socialism 5 – A well-informed objectivity compared with a resentful subjectivity 6 – Promoting a changing community as opposed to one preserved in aspic 7 – Consequences of the merging political parties 8 – Towards a one-party system 9 – Insincerity of Labour’s attitude towards class 10 – Goodwill and candid attitudes in creating the Responsible society 11 – Curiosity and appreciating psychological motivations 12 – Social ethics is the core to uniting different cultural class groups
CHAPTER 18
The Social Capitalist Network
1 – Re-building Labour’s membership 2 – The alternative realism of class party strife 3 – Strategy for a Social Capitalist Network 4 – A discreet movement 5 – Techniques to be employed 6 – Targeting prospective Social Capitalists 7 – And those in the local community 8 – Door-to-door and high-street canvassing 9 – Network Circles 10 – Organisation of the Network
PART IV
ADDRESSING SOME CURRENT ISSUES: AN EXERCISE IN APPLYING NEW SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER 19
Healing The Rural/Urban Political Divide
1 – The traditional divide 2 – Misconceptions about rural life 3 – When urbanites are disabused of their illusions 4 – Characteristics of the farmer 5 – Unique features of the agricultural market 6 – Inevitable conservatism of farmers 7 – Labour’s disdain for rural interests 8 – Social Capitalism gives a high priority to farming interests 9 – Farmers now exists in a political vacuum 10 – Crazy market conditions 11 – Rentier economy undermining rural life 12 – How hunting has become a metaphor for freedom 13 – A Labour PPC and the Hunt Protesters 14 – Why hunting has become a political totemic cause 15 – Social Capitalism’s agricultural doctrines 16 – Need to appreciate social difference between functional groups 17 – Confronting the hunting issue 18 – Interdependence of town and country 19 – Rentier corporations are the real enemy of home-based agriculture
CHAPTER 20
The Super-Rich and Communal Need
1 – Benign and malign aspects of great personal wealth 2 – When the rich are wrongly blamed 3 – Concerns of the middle-middle majority at the top 1% 4 – Inviolability of the super-rich is protected by the international economy 5 – Emergence of the inflationary trickle-up economy 6 – Who the super-rich are 7 – Pricking their conscience 8 – Their promotion of the rentier economy 9 – The problem of taxation 10 – Categorising the top 1% 11 – Re-establishing the Upper Exchequer courts 12 – Adverse effect of the super-rich on the macro-economy 13 – Comparison with Rome 14 – Self-deception of the CBI 15 – Counter-warnings 16 – The exporting of skills 17 – Why others call for protectionism 18 – Warnings of US scholars on the winner takes all society 19 – A culture may be transformed through financial shifts in the economic system
CHAPTER 21
Confronting The Future
1 – Tony Blair and Social Capitalism 2 – What politicians think more important than what they say 3 – The smooth accession of Social Capitalism 4 – As a middle class movement 5 – And as the Responsible Society 6 – Social Capitalism as a worldwide belief system 7 – In countering the causes of terrorism 8 – Futility of brute force 9 – Propagating the message 10 – Confronting Neo-Liberalism 11 – Its economic characteristics and seeds of self-destruction 12 – The problem of America 13 – Her benign past and malign present 14 – The real emerging world political divide 15 – A role for Britain 16 – Ruinous consequences of the “Special relationship” 17 – Regaining her integrity and independence
APPENDIX A Egalitarianism and Meritocracy
APPENDIX B On Authoritative Texts
APPENDIX C More Than an Ordinary Party
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY