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February 2010

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Monopoly capitalism and the case for socialism

Monopolisation of big
business is endemic to the capitalist system. Big business has become
wealthier and more powerful today than ever before.The revolving doors between government and industry has ensured the
continued domination of big business over parliament and state. Capitalist economists constantly argue that
privately run industry driven by pursuit of profit is the best way for
an economy to function. But, even a cursory look at the world around us
tells a very different story. Far from being efficient, capitalism is
riddled with contradictions and crisis. You could write multiple
volumes, as Karl Marx did, on the inadequacies of capitalism, but here,
in this limited space, we shall deal with just a few.

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Euro crisis confirms Marxist perspectives

When the economy was booming the euro was seen as a source of strength
for those countries that had adopted the new currency. Now it is
transforming into its opposite, as the crisis in Greece demonstrates.
The Marxists warned about this long ago.

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[Audio] Marxism and Anarchism

The
discipline that is imposed on the worker through the capitalist system
— through wage labour, through the division of labour and the
development of manufacturing — is the very same discipline that the
workers turn against the bosses through organisation into trade unions
and political parties of labour.  Therefore what effect does the theory
and practice of Anarchism have in the attempts by the workers to forge
fighting organisations?

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The Greek crisis and the threat to the Euro

Greece, like all the other capitalist
countries afflicted by the recession, is running a big deficit on its
government  budget. Tax revenues have
collapsed and more benefits are having to be paid out to the unemployed.
Deficits for the European Union countries as a whole tripled from 2.3% to 6.9%
from 2008 to 2009 because of the slump.

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Who’s to Blame for Climate Change: ‘consumerism’ or capitalism?

consumerism.gifIn the previous few months, we have attempted to show how capitalist ‘solutions’ to climate change, such as market-based methods like carbon trading, are not able to combat the environmental problems facing humanity and our planet. Similarly, international treaties that attempt to operate within the confines of capitalism are also doomed to failure, as was seen in Copenhagen last year.  Capitalism cannot solve these problems – capitalism is the problem.

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Paul Holmes: Interview From Ireland

Paul Holmes is standing for election as General Secretary of UNISON.
Paul has been active in the union for 36 years, he’s branch secretary
of Kirklees Branch in Yorkshire. The branch has over 10,000 members and
an 80% membership density. Paul agreed to be interviewed for Fightback
which is the Journal of the International Marxist Tendency in Ireland and we are pleased to reproduce that interview here.

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Support blacklisted electrician

Steve Acheson, blacklisted electrician from Manchester, was nearly arrested recently on his picket at Fiddler’s Ferry power station. Steve was dismissed in December 2009 and has held a peaceful picket outside the site ever since. His tribunal for unfair dismissal will not be heard until October this year.

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Cambridge students Vote To Stay With NUS

From the 4th-9th of February, Cambridge University students voted in a
referendum on whether to remain affiliated to the National Union of
Students (NUS). The referendum was held due to a motion, passed earlier in the
term, in which a small group of students proposed that the Cambridge
University Students Union (CUSU) disaffiliate, claiming the the NUS had
irreversibly degenerated into a bureaucratic travesty and that we were
wasting our time (and money) by remaining affiliated to such an
organisation.

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