The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
Greece: From early
this morning (Wednesday), hundreds of thousands of workers and youth participated in
the mass rallies during today’s 24-hour general strike, encircling the
Houses of Parliament. There is no doubt that had it not been for the
outbreak of rioting, with such a huge level of participation the numbers
concentrating on Syntagma Square would have exceeded one million.
Recent opinion polls show that a majority of Hungarians find life so
miserable that they would like to live somewhere else. Many consider
that life was much better before 1989 when people enjoyed full
employment and an advanced welfare system. Capitalism has destroyed all
that. However, as our correspondent points outs, what existed before was
not genuine socialism, but a Stalinist regime that people rose up
against. What is required is state ownership and planning, but under the
democratic control of the workers themselves.
The coalition argued that higher tuition fees for university would allow
for less government funding of education without a loss in the quality
of Britain’s ancient institutions. The increased fees were supposed to
end state funding of universities but instead a massive shortfall in
investment has been created due to the levels of unpaid debt that will
be created. From the capitalists’ point of view the only way that this
can be dealt with is through further cuts to higher education.
Announcing… Young artists from the
University of the Arts, Slade School of Art and Edinburgh University
will be holding an exhibition, starting next week in Saint George’s town hall in Shadwell,
East London. The artists in the exhibition at Cable
Street are not only coneying the current political climate but also
connecting it with the long tradition and history of the movement.
Further to the earlier appeal for
solidarity, we are publishing an account of the anti-union activities
at Dangote Pasta which led to the victimisation of the union organisers
at the plant, including the firing of 200 workers who refused to leave
the union.
We call on all our readers to support
the Public Campaign in defence of over 200 workers of Dangote Pasta at
Ikorodu, Lagos (Nigeria) sacked for refusing to resign their membership
of the in-house workers’ union since August 2010. We underline the fact
that the main trade union organisers were severely beaten in the process
and the families of these workers are suffering terribly as a
consequence of these actions on the part of management.
IRELAND: It’s now almost 100 days
since Enda Kenny took office at the head on the FG/Labour Coalition. The
election result was heralded as an historic defeat for Fianna Fáil, a
victory for Fine Gael and a major breakthrough for Labour. But despite the Independent description of Enda’s “ageing
matinee idol looks and good manners”, the election was no beauty
contest. The Irish economy and the Irish working class have been put
through the wringer over the last 3 or more years and it was the serious
impasse in the economy and within society also that defeated Brian
Cowen and the late Brian Lenihan.
As Britain’s largest care home provider teeters on the brink of
bankruptcy we examine the underlying causes of the crisis and explain how not
even the care of elderly people is immune from the ravages of capitalism.
The crisis which has hit the care home company Southern Cross continues
to get worse and worse. Already 3,000 jobs losses have been announced
and today the FT leaked the news that the company intend to "return to
their landlords" 132 of their homes – about 20% of the total holding.
We are being
constantly reassured that the financial crisis gripping Greece cannot reach
Britain. Many facts and figures are provided to back this up. However, a
closer look at the situation reveals the real underlying financial
crisis that sooner or later must surface in Britain also. In this
article Adam Booth looks at the situation in Greece and Europe as a
whole and shows how Britain cannot escape the inevitable.
2011 will go down in history as the
year of the Arab Spring and could yet go down as the year that also saw
widespread protest and a revolutionary mood develop in Europe, as recent
developments in Spain indicate. For revolutionary socialists this
situation presents an opportunity unlike any seen in decades. Yet such a
situation also poses difficult questions for the activists in the
emerging movements. In particular the seemingly contradictory aims of on
the one hand mobilising as many people as possible and achieving the
clear goals of the movement, and on the other, achieving a revolutionary
change in society
Here are some videos so you can have a better feel of what is going on
in Athens. As you can see the struggle is continuing to develop!