Letters: The system creating poverty must be eradicated. That system is capitalism

Capitalism creates poverty

John Bird may be apologising for “becoming more boring and repetitive”, but his latest batch of Wise (Bird’s) Words certainly suggests that he is on ‘A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey’. (A reference to what he would be watching that week.)

John is totally correct to point out that government and many organisations are just tinkering with the issue of poverty eradication. 

But I feel we should also be looking beyond the class system. The system that is failing all of us is capitalism. It was capitalism (and, before that, feudalism) that generated the inequalities inherent within the class system.

It is capitalism that perpetuates the pursuit of profit rather than providing for the needs of all of us. 

What is the answer? When John writes that we need “to create the social tools to get people out of poverty”, therein lies the answer. 

The system creating the conditions for poverty must be eradicated. That system is capitalism. 

I believe John sees that the alternative is a society where men and women are free and equal to produce the things that they need to enjoy their lives; to have free access in accordance with the principle ‘from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs’.

In other words, socialism.

Mike Hobbins

Responses to: Our investigation into Right to Buy

If you buy your house under RtB it should have to stay in your family. If you want to sell it, the council should have the right to buy it back at the same discount that you got. 

Serberou5, Reddit

Getting a council house is already a lottery, it seems unfair they also get another prize on top.

Downside190, Reddit

Right to Buy was a mistake. So too is this dysfunctional system where we’ve got a housing shortage, and the response is to spend taxpayer money buying up existing homes, pushing prices up, rather than building new ones.

Vonscharpling2, Reddit

I can’t fault the people who bought their council house after paying rent for years. The people who were in council houses when this policy was brought in were not rich. How could they have said no to the opportunity they were offered? The policy was a disaster for the country and should be stopped.

@francesweir.bsky.social

A public service and public money should have always remained in the public realm for public good. Now there aren’t enough council homes for those who need them and millionaires are buying up the houses of former council tenants to rent them out. We’re back to millions of people trapped renting private homes with no ability to break the cycle. The very reason council houses were created in the first place.

Jay Henderson, Facebook

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We could be heroes

Thank you for the recent articles on refugees and asylum seekers, particularly Paul McNamee’s editorial, citing the value of “silent heroes” who support those in complex situations without judgement.

For five years, following an initiative from the local Quaker meeting, a Dales community has organised a Day in the Dales for refugees and asylum seekers. This year, there were 46 asylum seekers from eight countries, with 24 children in the group. Activities included football, face painting, stone painting and a visit to a farm. 

Lunch was served in the village hall, and the day concluded with ice cream at the nearby waterfalls. The day is funded entirely by donations of money, food and time.

As Nick Beales said, “polling consistently shows that the wider public are actually sympathetic to people who’ve fled war, persecution, and famine and want a fair asylum system.”

Thank you for a brilliant magazine. I’d like to say hello and happy birthday (7 October) to my lovely friend Argentina, the Big Issue vendor in Richmond, North Yorkshire. 

Ann Brown

Read more:

• Kinds of Kindness show it’s not enough to accept alienation under capitalism – we must love it too
• What Lenin got right about capitalism
• People have the power to fight back against rampant capitalism – we just need the right tools

Not a fan of Thatcher

Vile, horrible woman who only ever created division and hatred in the UK. Sold off all our prize assets, so now all of our utilities are owned by other countries. They must have been laughing as they bought them for a pittance. The start of the “me, me, me and f*ck everyone else” attitude. Most, if not all today’s MPs hold her in high regard and not just the Tory MPs either. 

She’s the PM who called hard-working British miners “the enemy within”. If only Thatcher had lasted just 45 days, like Liz Truss did.

Si Jonta, Facebook

In praise of Kwajo

Firstly congrats Kwajo. I love what you do and am in awe of the manner in which you conduct yourself. It is so inspiring. I also love the podcast and the ethos behind it. 

Once in a while a true-spirited person who has knowledge beyond their years is able to get their message for the good of all heard and highlighted, with their strength and fight for what is right. 

You Kwajo are an amazing, humble person. You deserve an MBE and we the benefactors of your good work should demand one to recognise a very special young man.

Carole Wallace

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