How can sincere support be given wholly to a political party unless it has clear principles underpinning its base? Such a question is of particular relevance when asked of the Labour party in view of the events which have shattered the foundations of socialism worldwide over the past decade. The author, who has considerable practical experience as a Labour party activist, sets out to re-establish the concept of socialism as a vision for the future. But the forward-looking views of New Socialism need to be very different from the old. The transformation of society over the past 60 years means that old doctrines have to be replaced by new if socialism is to be made attractive to the modern man or woman.

Foundations of new socialism: A vision for the new millennium

Politics & Social Sciences

Corfe, Robert

Politics & Government

Arena

This is Robert Corfe's third book on the socio-economic philosophy of New Socialism. Whilst in the earlier books he laid down the theoretical foundations for New Socialist economic thinking and formulated a terminology in advancing ideas for a better world, in this book he concentrates on practical proposals for ensuring an efficient financial-industrial infrastructure which correlates also with a fair society.

New Socialist Business Values for Industrial Resurgence

Business & Money

Economics

Arena Books

This is a step-by-step account of someone who was drawn into the financial services industry - despite initial scepticism - describing the sleight of hand and fraudulent promises used by a major company against its own prospective and actual sales staff. There are horrific stories of those inveigled into huge loans and second mortgages with no chances of repayment, and all cleverly pursued as part of the company's strategic policy. Ingenious psychological techniques are employed by this household name in the financial services field to ensure the entrapment of their sales associates, often leading to a ruinous debt situation and despair. The book reveals how basically decent and honest people, trusting in the overall integrity of the business process, are drawn into the industry, corrupted, and then made to act in a dishonest way - even if only unintentionally. The editor's introduction interprets the company's rationale as due to the fraudulent aspect of the financial services themselves, arising from the introduction of unit-linked policies fluctuating in line with the value of the unit trusts in which premiums are invested, as contrasted with the safe conventional policies of an earlier era. Consequently, the selling of new-style policies became dependent on computer models of past performance having little relevance with the real world in demonstrating the future. This is a criticism which goes far beyond the well-publicised "mis-selling" of personal pension plans, PEPs and other policies. In view of the high-risk nature of the policies themselves, the personality of prospective sales people needed to be broken down and made malleable in "living with", let alone promoting, questionable practices, whoch came to be perceived as the common norm of truth. Hype and inflated promises were used as a mask to cover deceitful aspects of the industry. The final chapter draws up proposals for safeguarding the unemployed - the main recruitment target of the industry and the most vulnerable sector of our population - and for reforming the financial services industry. The industry should be made into a profession with proper academic training, and the corrupting profit motive has to be removed if the public are to benefit from best advice.

Our Swindling Finance Houses: Their Exploitation of the Vulnerable

Tallice, Guy

Industries

A sociological study of populism as a major influence in undermining standards in many spheres of life, through false values promoted either through or resulting from political activity, etc., or through corporate marketing forces. The book is of particular relevance to educationalists with regard to its criticism of relativism and post-modernism.

Populism Against Progress

Arts & Photography

Arena Books Ltd

Religion in many parts of the world, in both politics and personal life, for good or ill, is now exerting a greater influence than at any time in living memory. There is now not merely a cultural-religious confrontation between a worldwide Islam and what it sees as an affluent agnostic West, but the worrying rise of Christian fundamentalism in the most powerful nation on earth. And the latter has its distinctive political agenda. Part of this agenda entails a biased approach to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but the most significant aspect of all religiously-inspired politics is self-righteousness, and the explosive mix which this creates. These are situations which could never have been anticipated a generation ago when it was assumed that secularism had displaced the beliefs of the past as any longer of political significance. The attitude of many thinking people, in Europe and elsewhere, is to regard religion with askance whilst looking towards the growth of a greater secularism in resolving difficult issues. But such an approach is not an option. Religion is a natural component of human nature and is unlikely to be eradicated through modernism. Nonetheless, it is necessary to distinguish between the benign and malign aspects of religion and those of the different churches. Through surveying the traditions of the major religions in today's world it is shown that those based on revelation too often tend towards a tenacity of belief which leads to irrationalism and then, in turn, to fanaticism. When this mutates into political power it creates a dangerous cocktail which may affect us all, as we have seen with 9/11, and later with the bombings in London, Madrid, Bali, and elsewhere. Such threats can only be met by reverting to the language of those who claim the authority of God. And that means confronting religion with religion. But such a challenge needs to come from an over-arching religion without falsehood, or from the rational belief system of deism which seeks to unify all those of goodwill under the umbrella of an ethical religious consciousness. This book therefore presents a vision for a regenerated deism for the 21st century in helping resolve the most difficult conflicts of our time. The futility of political confrontation, through a dualistic view of the world, must be met by a new moral order amongst majorities everywhere in bringing greater peace and security to our planet.

Deism and Social Ethics: The Role of Religion in the Third Millennium

Religion & Spirituality

Religious Studies

The transformation of society and the world of work, in the industrialised countries over the past 60 years, have overtaken political systems in the democratic world. The old left/right political divide, which has marked the pattern of socio-economic struggle since 1789, has now ceased to be a useful tool in advancing the progress of humanity. This book presents the new realities in the spheres of social life, as an introduction to the author's forthcoming 3-volume work on Social Capitalism, which concentrates on the shattering economic and political changes in the contemporary world. What is to be the future of society if it is to advance in any meaningful sense? If society is to be egalitarian and at the same time free, it will need to ditch the ideologies of the past which so inspired our forebears. The book opens with 6 chapters discussing the role of high culture in a society where class associations have been minimised and elitism takes on quite a different meaning. In an upwardly aspiring society, and under a changed educational system, the best would be available for all in the practical democracy of the future. There then follow 11 chapters on the nature of property, which is projected as an individual right in fulfilling psychological needs. The political consequences are that property is presented as something contradicting its concept as understood in the traditional thinking of left or right wing politics. The practical implications of property are considered in their different life situations in separate chapters. Democracy, real or illusory, is discussed in 7 chapters, and historical arguments are evoked in exploring the erroneous beliefs and myths on the nature of freedom. The book concludes with 12 important chapters analysing those adverse intellectual influences in the 20th century responsible for undermining constructive thought in enabling a better world.

Egalitarianism of the Free Society

Children's Books

Education & Reference

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.

Emergence of the New Majority--Volume 1 of Social Capitalism in Theory and Practice

In the world of the 90% heterogeneous middle-middle majority, which we find throughout the advanced industrialised economies in both East and West, all are equally affected by the major socio-economic issues of our time. This has resulted inevitably in eroding left/right (or class-based) politics as a relevant or useful tool for the future in advancing the cause of justice and equity. In this second volume of Robert Corfe's major work on Social Capitalism, he turns to examining the financial-industrial system and identifies issues, which are untouched by contemporary politicians across the political spectrum. Whilst politicians live in their own self-enclosed world of dated ideologies, the author highlights urgent and major problems which are significant for us all in the real world. Through a careful analysis of the underlying forces which directly affect the majority, he formulates a new political language, and in doing so, creates a fresh perspective and vision for the future. No people can hope to be free without capitalism, competition, and free consumer choice. But capitalism is not a single or monistic system as traditionally projected by the political establishment. As the author demonstrates, through both empirical evidence and the development of ideas, capitalism may be manifested as either a malign or benign influence on society. In this book the concept of Productive capitalism is promoted as the desirable path towards which peoples worldwide should strive. It is socially self-destructive Rentier capitalism, with its accumulation of wealth into ever fewer hands, and the polarisation of society, which needs to be opposed. But the political battles which lie ahead, in promoting a benign financial-industrial system, will be very different from those in the past, since it is an economic system which will need to be confronted rather than an identifiable sector of the community.

The People's Capitalism-- Volume 2 of Social Capitalism in Theory and Practice

The reform of the financial-industrial infrastructure cannot be undertaken without considering fully the political culture in which it exists. But such reforms can only best be initiated from within the capitalist system itself by those most technically competent to effect necessary change, and hence this book calls upon the business community to take such an initiative. Whilst the first volume of this work traced the development of the new majority and its potential readiness to promote desired change; and whilst the second volume laid out the theoretical basis for Social Capitalism and a new political consciousness; the third and final volume is concerned with the policies and practicalities of a Social Capitalist world. Part I of the present volume is concerned with the international dimension, and especially the Third world, and the need for its internal capitalisation and redefining the benefits of free trade, and the priority of environmental questions. Parts II and III are concerned with strategies for national prosperity on the macro-economic level in advanced industrial economies, and Part IV considers the reforms of the business enterprise in successfully integrating the common aims of employers and employed. Part V is an exercise in the critique of Rentier capitalism, comprising an exposé of 43 leaders of major corporations, and Part VI concludes the work with a summary and analytical declaration of Social Capitalist values and aims. As this book clearly demonstrates, a free and democratic world cannot be achieved or maintained without the successful establishment of a Social Capitalist society which seeks to maximise the individual ownership and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange. Under different pseudonyms, Robert Corfe is also the author of 3 autobiographical works: Death In Riyadh (Geoff Carter) describing his life as a businessman in the Middle East in the 80s; My Conflict With A Soviet Spy (Eddie Miller) relating his adventures in Finland in the mid-60s; and, The Girl From East Berlin (James Furner) an epic novel relating his love affair in the old German capital at the end of the 50s.

Prosperity in a Stable World--Volume 3 of Social Capitalism in Theory and Practice

Finance

This is not only a travel book but a thought-provoking documentary on inter-cultural relationships between the different races and nationalities comprising the huge expatriate population and native Arab residents of the oil-rich peninsula. The many characters portrayed, presented in a variety of authentic stories encountered by the author on his travels, are centred around the horrific event of a public stoning in Saudi Arabia. Some of the stories have a humorous flavour, but all are concerned with the human problems - many of them poignant - of expatriates and Arabs alike, living cheek by jowl in a society of gaping contrasts. It would be simplistic to interpret the book as merely a critique of the harsher aspects of Arab life from a Western perspective, for in the cause of future concord, the author calls for a dialogue between the cultures of the Middle East and the West in the name of social justice and modernisation. The present strains, in what has become a multi-cultural society following the influx of millions, mostly from the Third World, anticipates the possibility of trouble in the future. The status of women is highlighted and discussed in several dramatic episodes, and a compassionate view is taken of Asian guest workers in the light of their widespread mistreatment in the Gulf. The rigidity of tradition would seem not merely to prevent the development of a modern mind-set, but in the perceived threat of Westernisation, to trigger an even more regressive attitude, as is shown clearly in this book. But note is also taken of the Arab outlook on the Western world, together with their horror of Western liberal values, and their passionate arguments for resisting change are recorded in detail. An element of suspense and mystery is maintained throughout the book as the execution of the condemned victim progresses through the narrative, only interrupted by recollections of other personalities and the stories surrounding them. Is the condemned person male or female? And what was the offence? No prior information is posted by the authorities on the public punishment or execution of offenders. The attitude of many readers to the horrific episode may change considerably as the true facts leading up to the execution are revealed towards the end of the book.

Death in Riyadh: dark secrets in hidden Arabia

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