For years Socialist Appeal
and the International Marxist Tendency have been arguing that the world is an
increasingly unstable place, where war threatens on many fronts
and revolution and counter-revolution hang in the air. The bourgeois and the Labour
right wing basically argue that it’s all down to evil people and that nice
President Bush and the generals keep us all safe by attacking terrr’sts and
keeping the world safe for freedom and ‘mockracy.

Even before panic hit the financial markets
the UK press was determinedly ignoring the big victory of German train drivers
last week. The train drivers won an
11% pay increase! Yet the emergence of what amounts to a five party system shows
Germany is entering a period of increased political instability.

Panic! The world’s
stock markets had their sharpest fall since 9/11 on Monday 21 January. Stock markets have had their worst start in the UK since records began! The UK is the most dependent of all the big seven
economies on finance, property and professional services rather than
productive sectors like manufacturing and transport.. So this world
downturn will hit it hardest of all.