Labour: Anger over leadership lurch
In response to pressure from the bosses’ press and Blairites, Labour leader, Ed Milliband has come out in favour of the government’s line on cuts and pay. Rob Sewell responds.
USA: The revenge of history
“Marx was right!” For Marxists, this is not a particularly profound revelation. We have long known that the German revolutionary’s analysis of capitalism was as fundamentally sound as the capitalist system itself is fundamentally unsound. But let’s face it: for decades, we’ve been in a small minority, fighting against the stream and against the odds. After spending a long time in the “wilderness,” that is beginning to change. The fact that the more serious capitalist economists are forced to admit the correctness of ideas they once ridiculed is an important symptom of a transformation in public consciousness./(Editorial for Socialist Appeal […]
{Audio} The American Revolution of 1766
The American Revolution of 1766 changed the face of the world. John Peterson from the US Marxists explains what happened and why. Click here to download
{Audio} The English Revolution of the 17th Century
The English Revolution of the 17th Century is of great importance to Marxists. It is a struggle we have yet to see resolved today. Rob Sewell speaks on the lessons on this event: Click here to download.
{Audio} Lal Khan on Pakistan
Lal Khan looks at the unfolding crises in Pakistan and what it means for the masses. Click here to download
Review: Inside Job
This is an overview of the documentary Inside Job that was recently
shown on the BBC. As one interviewee commented regarding the path
Iceland had taken from 2000 onwards, “Nothing comes without
consequence.”
1912: “The Great Unrest”
The Great Unrest is the term used by historians to describe
the period a 100 years ago when
Britain saw many industrial conflicts such as the Cambrian Combine Strike, the
Tonypandy Riots and many other struggles.
In Wales there was also a major dispute in the Cynon Valley and riots in
Llanelli during the Railwaymen’s strike. Strikes occurred in Clydeside, London,
Liverpool, Hull and many other towns and cities throughout the land. Important ideas were developed
and discussed during this period which had a profound affect on the Labour and
trade union movement.
Darrall Cozens, a member of the UCU and Coventry NW Labour
Party, considers what we need to learn from these events.
Miliband’s Fictitious ‘Responsible Capitalism’
Ed
Miliband’s leadership of the Labour Party is turning into an elaborate
parody of the emptiness of reformism. With capitalism unable to afford
any reforms, he is like the school pupil who works extremely hard to
avoid working whilst giving the impression of being studious. He is
trying very very hard, tossing and turning, to give the impression that
reformism can work without any actual reforms. Unfortunately for Ed, in
this case the illusion does not work.
Tories nationalise slavery!
The government has been hard at it coming up with new ideas to punish those who are unemployed and on benefit. The latest such idea involves forcing people to work for nothing or starve. This is now being legally challenged as it breaks laws against bonded labour i.e. slavery!
Marxism and anarchism
Alan Woods contrasts the ideas and methods of Marxism with those of anarchism, focussing on questions like revolutionary leadership, spontaneity, and the state.
Fees Undermining Higher Education
This is the year universities in
England are allowed to charge their UK based students £9000 for studying
for just one year. With most undergraduate courses lasting 3 years this
will mean that students may have to pay £27000 for tuition fees. This
doesn’t include the cost of living away from home. We probably will see a
major increase in students either living from home and going to more
local universities, or people will sadly sacrifice university education
altogether.
Tony and the tax collector
When Tony Blair left office (and then parliament itself) he set about
doing what all ex-PMs tend to do – earn a little bit of extra cash.
Well, as it happens in Tony’s case, quite a lot of extra cash.