Today, 25th February 2008 would have been Phil Mitchinson’s 40th
Birthday. Phil who was an outstanding Marxist and a leader of the International
Marxist Tendency died tragically in November 2006. To commemorate this
anniversay we reprint a letter by Leon Trotsky to Jack London’s daughter which
gives Trotsky’s views of London’s book The Iron Heel, one of Phil’s favourite books.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February
3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of
a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in
British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to
understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how
these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be
discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April. Part 1. Part 2.
Today the House of Commons will hear the second reading of Andrew Miller’s private
members bill on equal treatment for temporary and agency workers. Support the
bill and demand that your local Labour MP supports the bill.
It emerges from the Parliamentary debate on the
nationalisation of Northern Rock that billions of pounds are to be diverted
away from the intended purpose of preventing a banking collapse, into the
pockets of the Rock’s management. The directors set up a financial institution called Granite, allegedly a charity for handicapped children. Not one handicapped child has seen the colour of their
money. The real purpose of Granite was to act as a scam for
tax-dodging.
Lukacs was an important influence on what is called ‘western Marxism’.
This was seen as a ‘humanist’ alternative to the dominant stalinist
orthodoxy of the inter-War period and later. One of Lukacs’ most
significant arguments was that (contrary to Engels) there can be no
dialectics of nature. Dan Morley examines the debate and goes into the
contradictory relationship between Lukacs’ interpretation of Marxism and
Stalinism.
On Tuesday, February 19, Fidel Castro announced he was no longer going to stand for the position as President of Cuba. All the talk in the bourgeois is
of the need to remove the regime, but there is no mention of the real social
gains of the Cuban Revolution. We do not stand with these vultures. We defend
the Cuban Revolution by working for an all-Latin American and international
revolution.
The state is not at all neutral. We must understand the state’s real basis by treating it historically – taking in its origins, rise, and eventual fall.
Spongers, Scroungers and
Scum. These are just three of the many words used by the tabloids in describing the 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits. Recent figures show that 1.2 million of the 2.7
million people on incapacity benefits are unable to work due to mental health
problems. The rising number of claimants who suffer from mental disorders is a
reflection of a service-dominated economy.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February
3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of
a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in
British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to
understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how
these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be
discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April. Part 1.
Before the results had come in, President
Musharraf appeared on the state-run Pakistan Television, calling the vote "the
voice of the nation" and the "mother of elections" must be accepted. But in
fact this was the Mother of all Frauds.
As
if shift workers needed a new reason to despise their
jobs, the World
Health Organization has recently declared night work a “probable
carcinogen.” Research shows
“higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose
work day starts after dark.” This is due to the fact that melatonin,
which is integral to the body’s functioning, is usually produced at
night, while the body rests. Melatonin production is inhibited by the
artificial lighting, putting night-shift workers at risk.
We are in the final stages of the election campaign in Pakistan. The
masses are clearly backing the PPP in large numbers. Reaction is also preparing.
Blatant rigging cannot be ruled out, but this would only serve to enrage the
masses. In this context the Marxists are standing in several constituencies,
where they are running a revolutionary election campaign that is having a big
impact among the workers and poor.