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Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said the party was committed to realising Dr Ram Manohar Lohias dream of protecting the Constitution.

The Samajwadi movements effect will be visible in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Akhilesh Yadav said while paying tribute to the socialist icon on his 113th birth anniversary at Lohia Park here.

The SP chief said this is the place which socialist people frequently visit to seek inspiration from Lohia. He also said Lohia wanted every person to get the benefit of constitutional provisions.

The capitalist system is widening the gap between haves and have-nots in society. Socialist movement is needed today, he added.

Akhilesh Yadav also said the BJP-ruled Central and state governments together have presented 17 budgets, but the public was still troubled by inflation and unemployment.

At another function, SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav on Thursday said that Ramrajya and socialism are synonymous.

Thats why Dr Lohia used to hold Ramayan melas, he said, while releasing the book Bhagat Singh-Dr Lohia by socialist author Deepak Mishra and the cover page of his forthcoming book Ramrajya, Rashtriyat, Varanasi Samajwad.

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Akhilesh Yadav says socialist movements effect will be visible in 2024 Lok Sabha polls - Hindustan Times

Today in Old News, we continue our stroll through a little-known novel by that late, great Arkansan, Mrs. Bernie Babcock (1868-1962).

An early draft of "Billy of Arkansas" appeared in the Arkansas Progress, a Little Rock temperance paper, in 1914. In 1922, the statewide daily Arkansas Democrat serialized an updated and longer version of the story, set during Prohibition circa 1920 or '21.

This is a love story about a clear-headed, nubile and wealthy white teetotaler, Billy Camelton. Billy returns home from school to make her Little Rock social debut to the delight and dismay of three aunties, whose dearest wish is that she hurry up and marry some man of high social standing.

Billy navigates what turns out to be a matrimonial minefield, seeing through and casting aside assorted vain, dissolute, vapid or conniving suitors. Her refusals confuse and alarm her aunties, who don't understand why she expects to find a good-looking, honest and intelligent man who adores her and will make a good father.

Society has begun to gossip about her. So the aunties breathe a sigh of relief when Billy goes abroad with her school chum Jane Bierce, whose brother John inspired Billy's teetotalling. Billy writes home to Aunt Nan and the Bishop.

First, the young ladies visit Paris, where their aristocratic hostess introduces them to Count Henri de Bonaventeau.

"A real live count is interested in Billy, very much interested," Miss Nan tells the Bishop, adding with frustration, "she does not look with favor on his suit. It is a bad habit Billy has of looking with disfavor on everybody's suit, but he is persistent and something may yet come of it. I shall write her tonight. And you write to her, Bishop. Say something favorable to the Count. Counts, that is, real counts, are not picked up every day."

But Billy does not care to be Countess de Bonaventeau, as this arrogant man with a moustache waxed as stiff as his shirt front has assumed an American will swoon before his titled magnificence. He sends her a little gold-colored dinner ring bearing his family crest, dusted with diamonds that out-sparkle dewdrops. When she refuses to accept it, because decent girls don't accept lavish gifts from men, he follows her to Switzerland.

"He said he had come to invite our party to his country place," Billy writes, "one of the most beautiful in Switzerland with hundreds of acres of ground lying along a limpid lake with game fish sporting in its waters and where lilies bloomed in the gardens and nightingales warbled in the woodlands.

"Not to be outdone by French hospitality, I invited the party to Arkansas to my plantation of a thousand acres lying along the smoothly flowing Arkansas, where sand-bars sparkle in the sun and more catfish sport in the waters than all Europe ever saw; where violets and dogwood and roses and scarlet trumpets and smilax grow wild and mockingbirds not only sing all day, but all night."

"Just think," clueless Miss Nan says, thrilled, "Billy may have a visit from a real count. Won't it be remarkable?"

In Berlin, Billy and Jane meet a handsome Socialist in an art gallery. Billy writes that she's mad about "the Doktor," but alas! He likes Jane better.

Miss Nan and the Bishop heave great sighs of relief until they read that Jane has converted to Socialism.

Billy writes, "I always thought a Socialist was some species of malcontent waving a red flag and searching a place to hide a bomb. But it is not so. You won't understand this by listening to Jane and the 'Doktor' talk 10 minutes. The funny thing about a Socialist is his passion for making another Socialist. Jane has me marked, and she says she is going after her brother John, a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist."

"Mercy!" Miss Nan exclaims. "But God is good! How simply dreadful it would have been had not Jane Bierce been there to get that man. Wouldn't it be pitiful for Billy to land at last on a Socialist?"

But it is the letter the Bishop receives from London that produces the most alarm. Billy has donated $1,000 to a relief fund for starving Russians after being thrilled by a huge Labor protest in Trafalgar Square.

"Billy is going too far," the Bishop rants. "The idea of giving $1,000 to that bunch of Bolsheviki! I am a humanitarian. I believe in relieving the suffering that comes of famine and war. But those Bolsheviki deserve all that shall ever come upon them. If Billy had put that same amount into the church, it would have kept a missionary in [Korea] for a year. Let us pray God she does not become inoculated with radicalism in her foreign travels."

"Lord save us!" Miss Nan groans over her smelling salts.

Billy's final letter before her return conveys news her homefolks must see as serious, that European "males of the 'genus homo'" are intent upon starting another war: "When I get home, I'm going to join the pacifists," she writes. "If there is another war, I'm going to turn agitator. I may end in jail; but suppose I do, haven't the best folks in every age been locked up?

"I shall not, however, desert society entirely. I like to dance too well and have too many pretty French gowns that somebody must see."

BACK TO ARKANSAS

Billy arrives home with her grand pacifist plans and the gowns and within a week falls madly in love with a soldier.

The morning after her return, the untrustworthy chaperone of Billy's debut season calls at the Alexander home to invite her to lunch at the country club.

"It has been arranged as a welcome by your girl friends, and your gentlemen friends will be guests," Mrs. Benton-Gordon says. "And, Billy dear, you are to meet a new addition to our social set, the darlingest man that ever lived. Every girl in town has lost her head over him. But, Billy dear, he wants to see you is actually crazy to see you."

"What kind of a man is this that has gone crazy to see a girl he knows nothing of?" Billy asks.

Mrs. Benton-Gordon assures her that everybody has been telling him everything about her, which makes Billy laugh: "I do not wonder he has some curiosity if this is the case, if he's been told everything."

Capt. Sidney Larvante is an officer at Camp Pike. Billy is unimpressed: "I have seen so much braid and buttons the last six months it no longer interests me."

But our hackles should rise when Mrs. Benton-Gordon adds that Mr. Brighton Day has declared Larvante "a man Miss Camelton will like." Day was the dandy that Billy insulted by uncovering his predatory pursuit of her maid's biracial daughter (see arkansasonline.com/36billy).

Her chaperone adds that Billy must endeavor to look her best, "for, believe me, Captain Larvante is a connoisseur when it comes to the face and form and dress of a woman."

SMITTEN

Babcock doesn't describe the luncheon. Instead we see Billy's behavior afterward, how her report of the affair to Aunt Nan loops around and around a half-dozen times to things Larvante said or did. And she announces that the next day she will drive to the camp to see the changes made there during her trip abroad.

Billy had never been interested enough in the North Little Rock camp before this to drive there once a month.

At camp, Billy picks up the captain and drives him in her car on a tour of the Army training post.

"This was the beginning," Babcock writes. "After he met Billy, Captain Larvante had no time for other maids or matrons, and Billy postponed for a time the great work she had planned."

Has Miss Camelton finally found her mate? Tune in next week.

Email: cstorey@adgnewsroom.com

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OPINION | OLD NEWS: Billy avoids romance with socialist - Arkansas Online

Born: December 17th, 1956

Died: January 26, 2023

Growing up in Ballyfermot, Dublin, author and activist Noel McFarlane must have been a perplexing child to the adults around him. He spoke with a pronounced stammer, but the written words flowed from him. He had the vocabulary of an English professor, but couldnt accurately name the parts of speech. He was fiercely intelligent, but never thrived in a classroom.

His teachers, at least some of them, had the good sense to get out of his way. They put him in the library where he was surrounded by the things that inspired, taught and nurtured him books. In that silent classroom, the boy from Ballyers was able to fulfil his love of language, writing, poetry and James Joyce.

By age 13, Noel was writing his own plays. By 15, he had joined The Irish Times as a courier and copy boy. By 17, he had penned the ground-breaking novella Down the Corner. Written in the vernacular, Down the Corner spans three days in the lives of working-class Dublin boys.

Published in 1975, the book was distributed throughout Dublin schools as an incentive to read. In 1977, Noel wrote the screenplay for a film version by Joe Comerford.

By intent, the book gave working-class kids a story to which they could relate, in a language they could understand. By example, the author showed these same kids that nothing was impossible and that they need not be defined or constrained by the name of a street or a neighbourhood.

Noel rose through the ranks of the Irish Times to become sub-editor and has been widely recognised as a brilliant and perceptive writer. He wrote extensively for The Irish Times both in Ireland and from the United States as well as numerous other publications, periodicals and anthologies.

He was at his finest, perhaps, when writing about things in which he believed. A steadfast member of the Workers Party, Noel used his literary gifts to champion the causes of humanism, socialism, feminism, anti-racism, non-sectarianism and trade unionism. And he did more than champion them; he lived them every day. He did so without compromise and without apology. He never sold out.

He also never lost his sense of humour. Noel saw the absurdities of life and found them funny. Few, if any, could match his wit and there are people walking the earth today who still laugh out loud remembering something he said years ago. Noels close friend, author John Banville, recalls one instance of many: I was always about half Noels size. One day I told him I had been given a bonsai tree, and that I was very fond of it. Without missing a beat, Noel said, Ah sure J-J-John, arent you a g-g-g-grand little b-b-b-bonsai yourself!

Noel will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to the working classes and for his prodigious talent as a writer.

He will be missed, however, for his humor, his humanity, his friendship and his ability to impart the simplest and most astonishing words of wisdom when they were most needed and often least expected.

Noel was predeceased by his parents, Walter and Margaret McFarlane of Ballyfermot, and by his siblings, Bridget, Phillip and Patrick. He is survived by his brother Shay, nieces, nephews, friends and comrades.

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Noel McFarlane writer and journalist used his literary gifts to ... - The Irish Times

President Joe Biden on Friday called out and mocked conservative Republicans who slammed his infrastructure program as socialist and voted against it but have since asked his administration for grants from it.

I didnt know there were that many socialist Republicans, Biden deadpanned during a speech at a Volvo plant in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Biden, citing a CNN report, noted how Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were among numerous Republicans to have lambasted the program in public but were now asking for cash from it to fund projects in their districts.

Folks, look, you cant make this stuff up. You gotta say, and I gotta say, I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus, Biden cracked.

He then warned: If Republicans take control of the Congress, these historic victories we just won for the American people will be taken away.

Republicans have previously attempted to take credit for funding theyve voted against, such as the COVID-19 relief legislation. Biden has in the past mocked them for having no shame.

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Joe Biden Ribs Republicans With Deadpan Response To 'Socialism' Slam - HuffPost

Illustration by Ben Konkol

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About the author: Seong-Hyon Lee is a senior fellow at the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations and a visiting scholar at Harvard Universitys Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Will Chinese leader Xi Jinping tone down his boldness once he clinches his third term? By now, those who were initially skeptical are accepting the force of reality in China: Xi will almost certainly be granted a renewal of his power. And during his third term, we are likely to see the same Xi, with more or less the same policy mandate that he has marshaled so far, only more self-confident.

The enduring features of Xis third term are likely to be as follows. In politics, the Communist Partys grip over all sectors of Chinese society will be strengthened in the name of comprehensive leadership. As Xi puts it, East, west, south, north and centerthe Communist Party leads everything. In economics, the dual circulation strategy to fortify Chinas domestic demand will be implemented with more vigor. Some misinterpret dual as meaning domestic and international, in the sense of expanding production for exports and for domestic consumption. In reality, it means the worlds second-largest economy is withdrawing to its domestic market and shying away from the world, in order to become a more self-sustaining economy, less dependent on foreign trade and foreign supply chains.

Semantics should be put aside when analyzing Chinas slogan politics. In society, the term common prosperity will be front and center again. This slogan refers broadly to economic inequality and was used to justify crackdowns on the technology sector, among other policies. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was briefly relegated to the back burner.

In Chinas foreign policy, a new type of great power relations will be the dominant theme, to place China on an equal footing with the U.S. Xi first raised the idea with President Barack Obama in 2013. The Pacific Ocean is big enough to hold both the United States and China, Xi explained at the moment. It took a while for Obamas aides to realize Xis actual meaning. He was asking America to make concessions by renouncing the Western Pacific. In his third term, Xi will not give up on his vision of establishing a new type of relationship with the U.S.

On Taiwan, realizing national reunification will remain an enduring focus of Chinas national mandate. Amid deepening U.S.-China tensions over the Taiwan Strait, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently reiterated the importance of Taiwan by describing it as core of core interests. Whenever China wants to identify the issues considered important enough to go to war over, it uses the term core interests. In the case of Taiwan, Wang used the word core twice.

If one looks closely, these platforms are all internal and external policies promoted by the Xi administration over the past decade. Xis policies are all long-term goals, and he will stick to them in his new term.

Those who study Xis disposition call him an ideological purist. That is, Xi is a person who truly believes in socialism. Xi is also a believer in Chinas historic sense of rejuvenation. As he put it in 2019, Our world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Xi senses a once-in-a-century historic opportunity and believes that the Communist Party is destined for victory.

Xi has shown, time and time again, that he differs from his recent predecessors in that he does not hesitate to enter into conflict with the U.S. In a September 2021 speech at the Central Party School, an institution comparable to the Harvard Kennedy School that grooms midcareer officials, Xi diagnosed that the great revival of the Chinese nation had entered a critical period and said, Not wanting to fight is unrealistic. You must abandon the illusion and fight bravely. Xi has also said, The East is rising, and the West is declining. In Chinas political discourse, the East refers to China, while the West is often a euphemism for the U.S.

Overall, in Xis third term, he will focus on laying the groundwork for the Communist Partys goal of socialist modernization. His goal is to prove the superiority of socialism and turn China into a global power that will awe the West. It also means that Xis foreign policy will pursue ideological competition with the U.S., in addition to economic, military, and technological competition.

Conventional wisdom holds that the task facing the Communist Party today is to maintain the one-party system by strengthening its legitimacy, especially through economic recovery. Xi has somewhat invalidated this old formula, as his larger and more important mission is to demonstrate the superiority of socialism over other considerations. The Western business community has overlooked this aspect of Xis vision in its puzzlement over his policies, including his crackdown on Big Tech entities and the brake he has put on Chinas real estate market, not to mention the rigid zero-Covid policy that severely undermined Chinas economy. They regard these acts as China shooting itself in the foot.

But Xi is simply on a different mission, a grandiose one to revitalize socialism in the 21st century. For that reason, Xi, the strongman, is likely to remain second only to Mao Zedong as the most closely watched and vigorously debated leader in modern Chinese history.

Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barrons and MarketWatch newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit commentary proposals and other feedback toideas@barrons.com.

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Xis Third Term Will Double Down on a Mission of Revitalizing Chinese Socialism - Barron's