Hard Tim

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Arauments tos Hard timesnoil Just out from Pluto Press: an analysis of capitalism in crisis from regular Socialist Organiser contributor Bob Sutcliffe. £2.50 from bookshops, or (with 50p post and packing) from Pluto, The Works, 105a Torriano Avenue, London NW5. the family is unmasked as no refuge at all.

It disintegrates as Dixie becomes estranged from his children, sees with quiet desperation what the system is doing to his eldest son, and watches his wife become a bundle of nerves terrified to answer the door or answer the phone as the snoopers close in.

The main will to resistance in the plays is exemplified by Yosser Hughes. The situation has driven Yosser mad, but his madness is a measure of his iron will to resist.

Yosser demands a job. When the wall he builds is crooked and he is sacked he lays out the bent building contractor just as he lays out the invincible 'Shakehands' before whom all others crumble.

For his children But the collective struggle she and George represent is almost entirely excluded from the plays. It is no longer relevant. Snowy's words fall on rocky ground. His death suggests the futility of his ideas. George, the unions, the Läbour Party, are echoes from a foreign country where they did things differently.

Where once George addressed mass meetings, the animalistic dockers loot the ships. George holds the community together. Even as he dies they queue for advice. But he can pass this into Yosser, who in turn can't even relate to Chrissie and Dixie.

Where once workers built organisations and fought successfully trade unionism is now dissolved into manic drunken camaraderie. Trade unions can't help the employed or unemployed. "Yet anBOOKS Critique of the Gotha Programme, 30p; Wagr s price and profit, 40p; Communist Manifesto 60p; Capital volume 1 £3.95. Availăble c/o Socialist Organiser, 28 Middle Lane, London N8: add money for postage.

by MARX

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Socialist Organiser no.129 April Page