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Internationally, capitalism is
emerging from its worst crisis since the 1930s. There is palpable
relief in the ranks of the ruling class at avoiding a financial
meltdown. However, despite heated talk of green shoots, there is a
universal gloom about the current situation.
November marks
the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. This book revolutionised
thinking about the living world because for the first time it provided an
explanation for the evolution of species, something that was long suspected by
scientists. Darwin’s
simple idea – change by natural selection
– is arguably the single most important foundation-stone upon which all modern
biology is based. The Origin of Species was
a triumph of the materialist world outlook, even if Darwin himself didn’t quite
put it that way, and for that reason its publication was celebrated by Marx and
Engels.
Here is a short report on John McDonnell’s lecture at the ULU Marxists Meeting in London last week
While the leaders and lieutenants of capital
continue their assault on the pay, conditions and jobs of workers everywhere,
strikes have broken out sporadically across the UK,
including in transport. As was the case with the bus drivers of Essex and
Greater Manchester, in August the workers of GoNortheast in Washington in the
North-East of England also walked out of pay talks after rejecting a pitiful
offer of just 2% over 18 months.
Venezuela: The PSUV congress has now been called
and Marxists will fight shoulder to shoulder with left-wing
delegates for a genuine socialist programme in the struggle against
bureaucracy and against the right-wing in the party.
Comrade Bill Landles is 85 on October 26th. By
coincidence, in the old Russian calendar that is also
the date of Trotsky’s 130th birthday and the
anniversary of the Russian revolution. This is highly
appropriate because Bill has devoted the whole of his
thinking life to the cause of the October Revolution
and the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky.HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!
Waste, big salaries and huge pensions, that’s the image the
Tories are trying to present of the public sector in Britain today. It’s a bit
rich coming from them, at a time when their rich backers in the City of London
have been exposed as a bunch of greedy parasites.
It was only a few months ago that public anger against the banks and an
unprecedented crisis of capitalism seemed to have an almost
revolutionary tone. Public consciousness and official opinion seemed to
have shifted decisively to the left. Yet this rage seems not to have
effected any political change at all and somehow the public debate
(i.e. the editorial line of the press and the rest of the media) has
swung far to the right. But the anger and opposition to bank bailouts
has not disappeared.
In 1929, the New York stock exchange panic began, kickstarting a financial meltdown and opening up a decade of global depression. Only Marxism can explain the real cause of this crisis.
Figures published today (Wed) show a continuing rise in UK unemployment,
hiting 2.47 million as at the end of August. This figure is supposed to
be lower than expected – indicating that the recession is coming to an
end – but for those involved it is still high enough – not least for the youth!
Lord Adair Turner is head of the UK’s Financial
Services Authority, the body in charge of regulating the banks and other
financial institutions. Some weeks ago, he was interviewed
by Prospect magazine, a small mouthpiece of the Blairite wing of New Labour. In that interview, Lord Turner blurted out a
telling truth about finance capital that its proponents did not want to
hear. The reaction from
financiers has been apoplectic.
The recent elections in Greece saw a
massive shift to the left in Greek society, with a total of 56% of the
electorate voting for the left parties. The PASOK alone received almost
44%. This is a vote that rejects the austerity measures of the outgoing
conservative ND government. The problem is that the PASOK leaders are
promising more of the same. For the workers this vote was a victory –
but they did not vote for more cuts. This now opens up the prospect of
renewed
class struggle in the coming period.